57th 12 Foot Skiff Interdominion Championship - Overall report
by Richard Billett on 12 Feb 2017
57th 12 Foot Skiff Interdominion Championship Richard Billett
The Queensland 12 Foot Skiff association hosted the 57th 12 Foot Skiff Interdominion Championship from the 7th to the 15th of January 2017. This is the premier event for 12 Foot skiffs and attracted 25 skiffs to Moreton Bay, with boats representing QLD, NSW and New Zealand.
The event wouldn’t happen without the support of shipper Maerskline, who carted the five kiwi boats to Brisbane this year. We welcome their ongoing support.
Other sponsors include CG Composites, Skiffropes.com and SailingKit.com.au, Australian distributors of Rooster sailing gear.
For the seventh time, Nick Press won the Silasec Trophy, with first time winning crew Andrew Hay reveling in the victory. Australia dominated the teams event.
The coveted “Miners” helmet for Underall Champion went to the Wellington lads on Mistress.
Day 1 - Invitational race
Perfect third rig conditions showing a small glimpse to our international sailors what the bay is capable of.
Handicapped start with a long windward leeward course. It was a much needed race to blow out the cobwebs and flush out some pre-regatta nerves.
Monkey wrench mined hard at the windward rounding taking a core sample of the muddy sea bed of Moreton Bay. The bow pole so stuck the whole boat including the bow was out of the water.
First over the line was skiffropes.com, then Squid and The Bird. Fastest time was Geotherm, then one minute back was Sydney Sailmakers and another 45 seconds to Ghetto Sled. Fastest kiwi boat was Frankenskiff, way back in seventh.
Day 2 – Races One and Two
Racing got underway with perfect second rig pressure keeping the fleet tight for some close quarters racing.
The local boat Giddy Up led the charge of Aussie boats at the front of the fleet. Giddy Up led for the majority of the race, chased by Geotherm, Sydney Sailmakers and Ghetto Sled. In true Bradbury style, Ghetto Sled came from fourth at the last bottom mark to take the win, sliding past the leading pair on the short run to the finish.
Race Two saw the lead swap between these four front runners, until Ghetto Sled capsized during a gybe and breaking their tiller in the process. This allowed Geotherm to walk away with a comfortable minute plus win.
Day 3 – Races Three and Four
A sick easterly greeted the fleet and everyone pulled their biggest big rigs out of the trailer. Rookie skipper Brad Philips of Terms and Conditions won the day with a second and first, showing the form that led them to third overall at the recent National Championships.
Sydney Sailmakers took out Race three with a convincing two minute win, but the once leader of the race, Giddy Up, fell over on the last gybe to sink to ninth. Not to be outdone, Tank Girl suffered a kite malfunction while in fourth at the final mark, to slide to seventh.
Race four was the Terms and Conditions show, fighting hard all race to take their first bullet by 30 seconds.
The teams points were beginning to look ominous with NZ on 84 and AUS on 169 (high points are better)
Day 4 – Race Five
The wind finally built from the NE, hot and humid. With only one race scheduled, there was much discussion about which rig to choose, with one - three out there but the majority choosing second.
Once again the Aussie team led from the front, with locals Ghetto Sled dragging in Geotherm and then Sydney Sailmakers to take a 30 second win. Giddy Up also led for a while, but once again fell to fourth at the finish.
Layday
On the lay day headaches and boat repairs consumed a few of the sailors but the more adventurous made the trip over to north Stradbroke Island for lunch and a swim.
Thu 12th – Race Six
The wind was soft on the rigging lawn and the entire fleet plugged in their big rigs. It was a wise choice for the first lap… the wind had kicked in to 15 - 20 knots during the final two laps of the first race and the wing mark became a two sail reach.
Sydney Sailmakers sailed conservatively to take a 45 second victory in front of a fast finishing Giddy Up. Little Bus was the surprise of the day with fifth place. Rookie skipper Craig Dancer showing that a couple of months hard training and a fast boat was all you need to reach the top five.
Overcooked big rig proved to be a bit too exciting for some. Two Queensland boats decided to go toe to toe for the Miners beer of the day. The Wingman sent it down the mine with a perfectly square transom to the horizon only to be deducted points for one stringing. Tank Girl sent it down the mine hard two stringing after trying to negotiate an overtake on Bg Foot Custom Trapeze Harnesses ‘We can't go over it. We can't go through it. We've got to go under it!’
Second race cancelled
The two rescue boats were occupied towing broken boats back to the clubhouse so the race official made the executive call to cancel racing for the day. Winds were also consistently 20kts.
Fri 13th – Races Seven and Eight
After experiencing the sea breeze kick in yesterday the fleet was confident that it would kick in again. Playing it safe the majority rig call was second rig, Frankenskiff and Gill went big. The breeze did not fill in for the first race and big rig paid off for Frankenskiff and Gill taking out their best results of the regatta. Ghetto Sled managed to overhaul the big rigs to take the bullet by just over a minute.
The second race took four general recalls and then the black flag to get a start away in the oscillating breeze. The wind had built to top end second with gusts of 23knots. Ghetto Sled smoked the fleet from start to finish and recorded a 20 second win from the very fast finishing Geotherm.
Sat 14th – Race Nine
The week long regatta had been easy on the tired crews and whingeing skippers as the forecasts remained rather tame. On the final day Brisbane turned on the heat with some epic 30knt gusts, wind against tide creating skiff ramps, airborne action!
The race for the title was on from the first mark with Sydney Sailmakers and Geotherm rounding together and Ghetto Sled a close third. Nick Press and Brett Hobson traded the lead around the track with Richard Billett sliding back. His chances ended with a capsize coming in to the final bottom mark. Geotherm showed blistering speed to take the win by 30 seconds.
Lap by lap the wind dial was notched up, the first upwind beat was mid-range third rig with the occasional crouch, hunting for pressure on the downwind run the angles were rather tight to keep up pace.
Second upwind beat the wind had come into range with third rig no one was crouching (unless you were unfortunate enough to have plugged in fourth) and the 12ft skiff fleet started to stretch their legs. Speeds built to 20kts downwind.
By the second top mark the wind had truly filled in and one-stringing had crossed a few skippers’ minds. The Moreton Bay ramps started to shine and the downwind send was glorious, teetering on the edge of control as the skiffs dropped off the peaks into the 12ft long troughs.
The final lap to the finish line the gust were straight fourth rig. Inverted third mains and pounding through the ever increasing swell. This upwind was tough and the bear-away proved too much for a few. Survival mode had truly set in to cross the finish line as most boats opted for the one-string approach to cross the finish line.
Mistress set their sights high on taking out the miners for 2017. They lined up the finish line prepared for a glorious manoeuvre, and Moreton Bay provided the perfect ramp. The boys onboard Mistress sent it down hard breaking foot straps for extra style points.
It was the perfect way to end any regatta with a smile from ear to ear regardless of what misfortune bestowed upon you throughout the week.
Regatta wrap up
The overall series, after nine heats went to Sydney Sailmakers, following a count back with both Sydney Sailmakers and Geotherm finishing on equal points. This was the seventh win by Nick Press giving him the record for series wins one ahead of NZ guru, Tim Bartlett who finished seventh overall.
Racing was very close throughout the series with breezes ranging in the eight to twenty-two knot range on a very fast race track.
Scratch Results
1 - Sydney Sailmakers (Nick Press and Andrew “Noddy” Hay)
2 - Geotherm (Brett Hobson and Billy Lusty)
3 - Ghetto Sled (Richard Billett and Ben Cross)
4 - Giddy Up (Paul O’Malley-Jones and Stephen Tapsall)
5 - Big Foot Custom Trapeze Harnesses (Murray Press & Scott Lanham)
Handicap Results
1 - Mr Scruff (Thomas Olds and Daniel Pooley)
2 - Citadel Magnus (Martin Debelle and Matin Terley)
3 - Your Move Conveyancing (David Winning and Geoff Little)
4 - Hey Charger (Nicholas Bernard and Oscar Wilson)
5 - Mistress (James de Lisle and Stuart Williams)
1st Veteran Skipper
- Paul O’Malley-Jones (QLD)
1st Rookie Skipper
- Brad Phillips (NSW)
Teams Result
1 - Australia (373 points)
2 - New Zealand (204 points)
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