Harry Price (AUS) wins round robin stage, picks Greiner Hobbs (USA) as his semifinal opponent

George Anyon (NZL)will face Italy’s Ettore Botticini in the other semifinal.

Harry Price (AUS), George Anyon (NZL), Ettore Botticini (ITA), and American Greiner Hobbs emerged from the field of 12 teams from nine countries to advance to Saturday’s semifinals in the Youth Match Racing World Championship hosted by Balboa Yacht Club.
 
“It’s not ever easy deciding who to pick,” said Price at Friday evening’s post-race press conference. “We’re feeling confident after racing this week, so we just decided to choose someone that we have beaten twice.”
 
Hobbs and Botticini began Friday tied for third with 10 wins behind Price and Anyon, with local favorite Charlie Welsh (USA) in fifth place, still having a fighting chance of advancing.

But Hobbs secured early wins to solidify his position in the semifinals. Botticini stumbled against a much-improved French team, skippered by Cyril Fortin. However, Welsh could not seal the deal, falling to Johanna Bergqvist (SWE).
 
Price entered the day with an unblemished record and advanced to the semifinals as the number one seed, with a record of 20-2. But it certainly was not a picnic cruise for the world #6 ranked match racer.

While Price’s excellent boat speed shone during come-from-behind victories against the two American teams, his perfect record eventually fell to Felix Jacobsen of Denmark who has been near the bottom of the leaderboard all week. The Danes held on for a hard-earned two-boat length victory after a late onslaught of jibes from Price.
 
Price then lost a closely contested match to Botticini, so perhaps it is not a surprise he chose Hobbs over Botticini for his semifinal.
 
In the final race of the day, and the round robins, and with their respective semifinal spots secured, Price and second-seeded Anyon squared off in their second match of the Championship. Price had won the first. In this match, Price had the better of his opponent in an aggressive pre-start, starting clear ahead of Anyon.

In the steadily building afternoon breeze under typical Newport Beach bluebird sailing conditions, Price and his crew stretched their lead to win the four-leg, 20-minute match by four boat lengths.
 
The best-of-five semifinals will begin Saturday at 1130 PDT, followed by a best-of-five final.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
 
Results
Full results from the 2017 Youth Match Racing World Championship are available here – http://www.matchracingresults.com/2017/youth-world-championship/
 
Social Media
Follow the event on World Sailing’s social networks and get involved in the conversation using #MatchRacing #YouthSailing #WorldSailing.
 
World Sailing Facebook
Instagram – @worldsailingofficial
Twitter – @worldsailing
 
Live content can be seen on Balboa Yacht Club’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/balboayachtclub and live results updates will be available by their Twitter account @balboayachtclub.
 
Press Releases
International press releases will be released after racing throughout the duration Youth Match Racing Worlds. All the latest news and reports will be available to read here – http://www.sailing.org/news/index.php#.WXsa6YqQyK4