Juniors on fire at the Flying 11 Sydney Harbour Championships

by Scott Lawson on 15 Apr 2013 The final round of the 2013 Flying 11 Sydney Harbour Championships culminated in a 1-2 for Northbridge Sailing club’s Bad Dog combination of Harry Lawson and Stephen Hancock and Firefly’s Max Richardson and Tom Jamieson. Henry Stabback and George Richardson in River Rat took out a well-deserved third place and took the prize for the first Middle Harbour team in the championship.

The series, run by the Middle Harbour 16ft Skiff Sailing Club, saw some great racing with crews from Lane Cove, Belmont, Middle Harbour and Northbridge competing for the trophy with four different winners in the seven race series run over the 2012-2013 season.

Run on the waters of Middle Harbour, conditions varied over the championship and the current and land influence saw the lead change hands many times in some very exciting racing. With swells rolling in from Sydney Heads, the latter races tested the teams’ ability to adapt to the bumpy conditions with some great downhill surfing enjoyed across the board.

Bad Dog’s skipper, Harry Lawson said he was very pleased to take the trophy home after being beaten by Max Richardson in last year’s event. 'Max and I are great mates on the dock but when it comes to racing, the gloves come off! We always finish within a few points of each other and it’s great to bring home a 1-2 to Northbridge.' Harry also wanted to thank Middle Harbour Skiffies for running the series.

For many of the crew’s, it was the final regatta in their Flying 11’s. With some of the skippers are finding it difficult to get under the boom, it is time for them to move on, taking the many skills they have learnt from being part of the unique Flying 11 fleet into the 29er/420 stepping stone. For the parents, the Flying 11 community will be missed, especially the sight of seeing nearly 100 boats on the start line at the annual championships.

To all in the community and on behalf of the girls, boys, parent s and clubs, thank you for your support and look forward to promoting the Flying 11 class in the future.