It was a Victorian 1-2 in the Zhik Australian eSailing National Challenge Final last night, with 17-year-old Josh Griffith from Sandringham Yacht Club and Matt Blakey from Port Melbourne Yacht Club taking out top honours.

It was a reverse of the results at the Victorian State Championships last week, where Matt took the top step of the podium with Josh in second.

Josh’s win earned him a $500 voucher from Zhik, along with a $500 voucher for his home club.

There will be a chance to settle the score once and for all next weekend when both sailors go on to represent Australia in the Zhik trans-Tasman eSailing Championships on Sunday 7 June at 6pm AEST. The regatta will be live streamed on the Australian Sailing Facebook page.

The National Challenge Final saw the top two finishers from last weekend’s State Champions joined by Matt Wearn and Zoe Thomson from the Australian Sailing Team to make a field of 18. Indeed it was Wearn, Australia’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics Laser class selection, who showed he is also a force to be reckoned with on the virtual racecourse in finishing third.

The top six finishers from last night’s final will go up against the top six from New Zealand’s National Final which will take place this weekend. The trans-Tasman Championships will decide who really is the eSailing superpower of the region.

The two Victorian champions will not only be competing head-to-head to decide who has ultimate bragging rights, but they will also compete on Team Australia with the top 5 net scores from each country added up for a team’s total.

Port Melbourne’s Matt Blakey might have found himself somewhat conflicted when he represents Australia in the trans-Tasman regatta, with the New Zealand native only having only moved to Melbourne from Tamaki Yacht Club in Auckland in 2010. However that is not the case.

"I will just be going all out to win," said Blakey. "In the race of life, always back self-interest — at least you know it's trying. I don't owe anyone any favours, I'm not going for New Zealand or Australia, I am just going for Matt Blakey."

The full top ten from the regatta were:
1st – Josh Griffith (Sandringham Yacht Club) – 4pts
2nd – Matt Blakey (Port Melbourne Yacht Club) – 8pts
3rd – Matt Wearn (Australian Sailing Team) – 10pts
4th – Ben Hinks (Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club) – 10pts
5th – Jack Ferguson (Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron) – 12pts
6th – Quentin Palmer (Brisbane 18 Footers Sailing Club) – 13pts
7th – Liam Miller (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron) – 17pts
8th – Zac Skulander (Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club) – 19pts
9th – Will Sargent (Derwent Sailing Squadron) – 19pts
10th – Jason Poustma (Fremantle Sailing Club) – 20pts

The full results can be found here.

Australian Sailing would like to thank our partners at Zhik for their support of the Zhik Australian eSailing National Challenge and for their ongoing support of sailing in Australia.