Sydney Flying Squadron 18 footer handicap

by Glen Stanaway on 14 Nov 2005 Only six seconds separated the winning 18 footer from second place in the Sydney Flying Squadron’s handicap event on the weekend.

It was a handicap start for the 18 foot skiffs on a spectacular day that was sunny with light to medium breezes. John Kelly and his crew of Daniel Farley (sheet) and a newcomer Scott Shearer (bowman) on Sign-a-Rama started the fleet and sailed well enough to hold out from Chris Kameen on Austar.

Both boats had learned from prior races the importance of keeping clear of the busy traffic on Sydney Harbour, and how critical it is to sail these skiffs at full throttle.

Avaya (Michael Rynan) also applied a similar principle managing to pass Macquarie (Michael McKensey), Frame Group (Craig Doran) and Intercall (Lea Sitja) on the first lap of the race. There was a possibility that Avaya may have caught Austar on the last leg of the race, but a poor spinnaker set on their part combined with Austar picking an excellent wind shift, allowed Chris Kameen to open a significant gap between himself and the third placed Avaya.

For John Kelly on Sign-a-Rama there was no looking back though. His main concern was keeping in clear air and staying free of traffic. The tactical decision was made to not worry about defensively covering the faster Austar, but to simply make sure they picked the best route through the busy waterway and get to the finish with minimum interference. It was a tactic that worked, with Sign-a-Rama scraping home for a 6 second win.

Even with second place, Kameen was ecstatic with his own team’s performance. This is Kameen’s first season helming the tough 18s and to get a sniff of success is a great motivator. Fellow Englishman aboard, David Rogers and local Sam Jackson were both equally pleased with the result and consider it a sign of things to come.

Another exciting part of the race took place between some of the mid fleet skiffs, with Dinghy Solutions (Richard Scarr), Ella Bache (Adrian Dunphy) and Sydney Star Accommodation (Michael Boyd) all caught in a fierce tactical battle. For a large part of the second downwind leg all three were within meters of each other whilst under spinnaker making passing and maneuvers very difficult. In addition to the risk of collision, it would have been disastrous to any of the skiffs in that pack if they had to do a penalty turn for breaking a rule.

It wasn’t until the final windward leg that Sydney Star Accommodation managed to break free from the group. And it was largely misfortune with traffic that caused Dinghy Solutions to fall away.

A series of incidents involving ferries, tourist cruises and pleasure craft spoiled Dinghy Solutions windward speed and many skiffs passed by. Ella Bache, Frame Group and Synergy all slipped past whilst Richard Scarr wondered how it was he got caught up with the on-water traffic congestion.

It was an unfortunate finish to his race as he had earlier displayed terrific upwind speed and his young crew of Mike Chidgey (19, on sheet) and Sebastian Maxwell-Williams (15, as bowman) were excelling in a class typically dominated by seasoned sailors.

Sydney Flying Squadron 18 Foot Skiffs
Spring Series Heat 8 Rod Walker & Mark Foy Trophies
1. Sign-a-Rama (J Kelly)
2. Austar (C Kameen)
3. Avaya (M Rynan)
4. Sydney Star Accommodation (M Boyd)
5. Ella Bache (A Dunphy)
6. Frame Group (C Doran)
7. Synergy! (M Carter)
8. Dinghy Solutions (R Scarr)
9. Macquarie (M McKensey)
10. Intercall (L Sitja)
11. Wentworth Courier Sydney Weekly (I Pretty, did not start)