12 Foot Skiffs Australian Championships in Brisbane over Easter

by Ben Guymer on 11 Apr 2014 Brisbane will be host to one of the most exciting and extreme sporting events of the year, with the 12ft Skiff Australian Championships being held over the Easter period 18/04/14 – 21/04/14. With Cyclone Ita crossing the QLD coast tomorrow, Waterloo Bay will be pumping, something the skiffies thrive in!

It will be high performance sailing at its best, with skiffs from QLD, NSW and Victoria all battling it out on Moreton Bay. Local Brisbane based sailors have been training hard and will be looking to give their Southern counterparts a real fight for the title, currently held by Jono Temple and Richard Jones in Lincoln Crowne & Co from Sydney.

To be a part of it, head down to Manly Harbour and check out some of the best skiff sailors in the world. Cheer on the local boys, and watch some of the best high performance racing on the water.

The racing will be run by the Brisbane 18ft Skiff Club at Darling Point with up to 25 skiffs expected to race over the four days.

Starting from humble beginnings, the 12ft skiff has grown and endured to become one of the last true development classes racing today. With only nine class rules limiting the hulls and weight at 45kgs, sailors are free to create and race the boat that they want. The result of this is an extreme 12ft boat that regularly becomes airborne under the power of their huge spinnakers.

The best place to watch the spectacular spinnaker rides is on the water, but if you can’t get out there then check out the RQYS viewing platform or Darling Point, off Trafalgar Street Manly.