2015 JJ Giltinan Championship - 'Gotta Love It 7' on fire

by Frank Quealey on 18 Feb 2015 2015 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship - Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Scott Babbage again gave an immaculate exhibition of power sailing to virtually destroy a high-quality fleet of 18 Footer competitors and boats.

The racing behind Gotta Love It 7 has been brilliant with close racing, top class action and exciting finishes, but the display from Team Seven has dominated the scene.

For the fourth consecutive race day, Gotta Love It 7 didn’t get the best of the start but the boat speed and boat handling of the crew is such that Gotta Love It 7 once again led at the first windward mark and was never headed from that point.

At the finish, 7’s winning margin was 1m6s from Coopers 62-Rag & Famish Hotel, which came back strongly following a couple of unfortunate gear problems earlier in the regatta.

The Rag crew of Jack Macartney, Mark Kennedy and Peter Harris were in fourth place at the Beashel Buoy on the first lap but put in a consistent performance to work their way into second place.

Another improved performer, De’Longhi (Simon Nearn, Grant Rollerson and Kieryn Cowan) also came back strongly to finish a further 1m16s behind Coopers 62-Rag & Famish Hotel, and just 4s ahead of the leading New Zealand Yamaha team, led by David McDiarmid.

After the four races sailed to date (worst performance not discarded), Gotta Love It 7 has a perfect score of four points , followed by Mojo Wine (Lee Knapton) on 27, US champion Howie Hamlin (Harken) and Asko Appliances (Marcus Ashley-Jones) on 30, Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon) and Appliancesonline.com.au (Micah Lane) on 32.

Today’s 16-knot North East wind saw all teams elect to use the smaller #2 rigs.

New Zealand’s Alex Vallings (C-Tech) led shortly after the start with Coopers 62-Rag & Famish Hotel and Gotta Love It 7 close behind off Taylor Bay.

Seven grabbed a 20s lead from C-Tech at the windward Beashel Buoy, followed by Smeg (David Witt), The Rag, New Zealand’s Maersk Line (Graham Catley), De’Longhi and Appliancesonline.

What followed was sensational viewing for the spectator fleet as boats raced at top speed to the wing mark off the southern end of Shark Island in Rose Bay.

Smeg was looking strong but lost several placings when the team had some difficulties then lost the breeze along Shark Island.

The championship continues tomorrow (Thursday) with the following races on February 21 and concludes on Sunday 22 February.

The club’s regular ferry will follow the racing, leaving Double Bay Wharf, alongside the clubhouse.

Progressive point score

	Name	Nation	Crew	Total	Highest dropped
1	GOTTA LOVE IT 7	AUS	Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton, Scott Babbage	4	4
3	MOJO WINE	AUS	Lee Knapton, Mike McKensey, Ricky Bridge	27	27
12	HARKEN	USA	Howie Hamlin, Daniel Phillips, Skip McCormack	30	30
6	ASKO APPLIANCES	AUS	Marcus Ashley-Jones, James Dorron, Jeronimo Harris	30	30
2	THURLOW FISHER LAWYERS	AUS	Michael Coxon, Dave O’Connor, Trent Barnabas	32	32
11	APPLIANCESONLINE.COM.AU	AUS	Micah Lane, Paul Montague, Tom Anderson	32	32
5	YAMAHA	NZ	David McDiarmid, Andrew Archibald, Mark Overington	33	33
15	DE’LONGHI	AUS	Simon Nearn, Kieryn Cowan, Grant Rollerson	34	34
8	SMEG	AUS	David Witt, Tom Clout, Matt Wark	38	38
4	C-TECH	NZ	Alex Vallings, Scott Barnes, Cameron McDonald	38	38
20	PURE BLONDE	AUS	Nick Daly, John Walton, Nick Murray	45	45
9	LUMIX	AUS	Jonathan Whitty, Aron Everett, Daniel Nixon	48	48
14	THE KITCHEN MAKER	AUS	John Sweeny, Rob Bell, Peter Nicholson	50	50
13	YANDOO	AUS	John Winning, Andrew Hay, Jim Beck	52	52
16	KNIGHT FRANK	NZ	Riley Dean, Matthew Coutts, John Little	55	55
7	COOPERS 62-RAG & FAMISH HOTEL	AUS	Jack Macartney, Mark Kennedy, Peter Harris	56	56
24	AON	NZ	William Tiller, Harry Thurston, Tim Snedden	60	60
19	MAERSK LINE	NZ	Graham Catley, Murray England, Brad Collins	67	67
10	COMPASSMARKETS.COM	AUS	Keagan York, Greg Dixon, Matt Stenta	69	69
21	HAIER APPLIANCES	AUS	Pedro Vozone, Daniel Watson, Fabio Mueller	72	72
22	ILVE	AUS	Oliver Hartas, Mark Muirhead, Iain Wood	83	83
18	FISHER & PAYKEL	AUS	Rob Flanagan, Will Mueller, Dallas Dawson	83	83
17	NOAKESAILING	AUS	Sean Langman, Peter Langman, Gerard Smith	84	84
23	ALLIED EXPRESS	AUS	Stephen Quigley, Thomas Quigley, Sam Ellis	100	100

Result sheet

Finish Placings	Recall #	Boat Name	Finish Time	Elapsed Time	Handicap	Corrected Time	Handicap Position
1	1	GOTTA LOVE IT 7	16:19:41	1:14:41	0	1:14:41	3
2	7	COOPERS 62-RAG & FAMISH HOTEL	16:20:47	1:15:47	1	1:14:47	4
3	15	DE’LONGHI	16:22:03	1:17:03	5	1:12:03	1
4	5	YAMAHA	16:22:07	1:17:07	1	1:16:07	10
5	4	C-TECH	16:23:08	1:18:08	1	1:17:08	13
6	3	MOJO WINE	16:23:24	1:18:24	1	1:17:24	14
7	6	ASKO APPLIANCES	16:23:50	1:18:50	4	1:14:50	5
8	11	APPLIANCESONLINE.COM.AU	16:24:07	1:19:07	3	1:16:07	11
9	12	HARKEN	16:24:12	1:19:12	4	1:15:12	6
10	9	LUMIX	16:24:30	1:19:30	4	1:15:30	7
11	24	AON	16:25:07	1:20:07	3	1:17:07	12
12	13	YANDOO	16:25:27	1:20:27	2	1:18:27	16
13	20	PURE BLONDE	16:25:33	1:20:33	5	1:15:33	8
14	8	SMEG	16:25:38	1:20:38	2	1:18:38	17
15	2	THURLOW FISHER LAWYERS	16:26:06	1:21:06	1	1:20:06	20
16	19	MAERSK LINE	16:26:20	1:21:20	9	1:12:20	2
17	14	THE KITCHEN MAKER	16:27:44	1:22:44	7	1:15:44	9
18	18	FISHER & PAYKEL	16:33:00	1:28:00	10	1:18:00	15
19	17	NOAKESAILING	16:34:13	1:29:13	10	1:19:13	18
20	21	HAIER APPLIANCES	16:34:33	1:29:33	8	1:21:33	21
21	16	KNIGHT FRANK	16:34:46	1:29:46	4	1:25:46	22
22	22	ILVE	16:35:05	1:30:05	10	1:20:05	19
23							23
24							24
25							25
26							26
27							27
28							28
29							29
30							30
31							31
32							32
33							33
34							34
Non Starters			Non Finishers
ALLIED EXPRESS (DNC)			COMPASSMARKETS.COM (DNF)