RQYouthSquad Sailors Ashlee Daunt and Tom Needham won all but two races to secure first place in the Allianz New Caledonia 29er National Championships.

In 2nd place were fellow Squadron members Luke Rogers and Matt Rogers, they held off the local teams and challenged Ashlee and Tom through the event.

Long term RQYS Member Stephen Everett, who owns Bayside McGrath Estate Agents, sponsored the four RQYouthSquad Sailors to travel overseas for the competition as part of McGrath’s commitment to community support.

“The good thing about McGrath is that they’re all about giving something back to the community, and the sailing community is one that is close to my heart” said Stephen.

“McGrath sponsors Guide Dogs Australia-wide, recently raised substantial funds for drought-affected famers, and we also have what’s called a Community Give Back Program where every time we sell a house for the vendor, we donate $500 to a local charity of the vendors choice”

“It’s just part of the concept that McGrath wants to do more than sell and buy houses, it wants to do things for the Community.”

For Ashlee, who won the Australian 29er Championships at RQYS earlier this year, this was her first ever international expedition, and certainly her first time competing overseas.

“This was my first experience sailing somewhere outside of Australia and, safe to say, it was a pretty good first experience. The waters were pristine, flat and most importantly warm, making our training in a perfect breeze of 10-12 knots all the more enjoyable,” said Ashlee

“For the first three days of the regatta, we experienced fairly light and extremely shifty breezes. This challenged us greatly especially considering we were competing against boats with a great deal more local knowledge.”

Regardless, both Australian teams persevered, and they ultimately came away with some great results on the first three days. Both teams secured a place in the top four going into the final day of the regatta.