18ft Skiffs - Determination pays off for the Haier Appliances Team
by Frank Quealey on 11 Nov 2016
Haier Appliances under the #1 rig on a spinnaker run last Sunday Frank Quealey /Australian 18 Footers League
http://www.18footers.com.au
The Haier Appliances 18ft Skiff team of Pedro Vozone (skipper), Lorenzo Cerretelli (sheet hand) and Tim Morishima-Westwood (bow) are reaping the rewards of some hard work and determination during the early part of the 2016-2017 Season.
For Pedro Vozone it has been a tough grind since joining the 18s fleet as a crew some seven years ago.
It all changed for Pedro in 2015-2016 Season when Lorenzo and Tim teamed up with him and the trio have progressed well in the very strong Australian 18 Footers League fleet.
Lorenzo was an experienced sailor in numerous classes and very keen, but had no experience in skiffs.
Tim was a Japanese/Australian sailor who had aspired to sail both 18 Footers and The America’s Cup.
Pre-season and mid-week boat preparation in the park alongside the clubhouse paid off when the team was one of only a few who took on a gusty 30-knot Southerly wind and finished second behind Nick Daly’s Peroni.
Unfortunately for the team, Tim has now departed for Japan to sail in the Japanese Youth America’s Cup team and is not likely to return during the rest of the current season.
Pedro has displayed enthusiasm and determination throughout his entire career with the 18s at the League.
He reflects: “The learning curve is long and hard. It’s hard enough to handle these boats just to keep them upright. To sail them fast requires a very high degree of confidence in the actions of all three crew members.”
“A good division of responsibilities is also crucial to ensure all the essential matters are covered by someone, and the flow of information is in the right was to allow for better decisions.”
Sailing an 18ft Skiff on Sydney Harbour is a long way from where it began for Pedro.
He started sailing, in the Optimist class, in the coastal town of Cascais, near Lisbon in Portugal, and progressed to 420s, then 49ers up to 2008.
After coming to Australia, Pedro was briefly part of the PWC Shockwave crew, which ended when the team suffered a tragic incident in October 2009.
He immediately became part of a rookie 18ft Skiff team and naturally battled in the new class.
The next year he sailed for part of the season as sheet hand for Simon Nearn on De’Longhi.
Pedro recalls: “Woody (John Winning) challenged me to steer my own boat. James Slee was also at the park trying to find a crew and we managed to unearth Sam Ellis (17-years-old at the time).”
The first season was a bit of a struggle but the second was a little better, with some improving results.”
Numerous crew changes before Lorenzo and Tim linked up with Pedro must have tested his resolve but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel after the long battle.
“Our performance in the heavy wind earlier in the season gave us some hope and confidence that we were able to handle ourselves in heavy conditions. Last week’s race with the big rig also left us satisfied that we were able to keep contact with some of the fast boats in the fleet.”
“Now that Tim has departed, we’ve enlisted Cam Walker for the rest of the season.”
Club President John Winning is a strong supporter: “Pedro is a popular member of the 18 Footer fleet at the League and is exactly the type of person we all want in our club.”
“It was great to see the results he and his team have achieved over the past few weeks.”
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