12ft Skiff Interdominion- Sydney Sailmakers has near unassailable lead

by Di Pearson on 9 Jan 2015 The 55th 12 Foot Skiff Interdominion Championship 2015 is being hosted by NSW 12Ft Sailing Skiff Association at Australian 18 Footers League, Double Bay. With one race remaining, a bullet and a second place this afternoon have given the Sydney Sailmakers crew of Nick Press-Andrew Stevenson an almost unassailable lead in the 12ft Skiff Interdominion being held on Sydney Harbour.

Race eight was sailed in a 15-17 knot north-easterly. Going into the day, the top trio of Sydney Sailmakers, Little Bus (Chris Reid-Andrew Clarke, NZL) and Geotherm (Brett Hobson-Brad Phillips) hung together near the pin pre-start, with Chapman High Performance Sailing (Adrienne Cahalan-Brett Phillips) and Hempel Yacht Paints (Michael Spies-Robbie Polec).

Despite most skiffs carrying their No. 2 rigs, within a few minutes, three had capsized, including Cunning Stunts (Lachie Paramor-Scott Hobson), which had a broken rudder box. Soon after, defending champion Alex Vailings-Fraser Brown, (C-Tech, NZL) also succumbed. Suffering rig damage, they were forced to return to shore, killing their chances of winning the title back.

Many of the 28 skiffs fell like flies as the breeze pressured up and the Harbour became a little lumpy. At Nielson Park for the first time, Sydney Sailmakers was around first, their white kite set for the run to Shark and Clark Islands. Little Bus and Geotherm were hot on the trail as the trio put distance between them and the rest of the fleet.

By the second run, Geotherm had overtaken Sydney Sailmakers and Little Bus was trailing. However, when Geotherm threw in a couple of gybes, they failed to keep the quick Sydney Sailmakers at bay, the latter taking the win 200 metres from the finish.

'We botched it down the last run. We gybed twice, and didn’t do a good job of it, and they (Sydney Sailmakers) kept straight lining it,' Hobson conceded after the finish.

By Race nine, the breeze had swung further left and freshened to 20 plus knots on a bumpy sea, especially down the Vaucluse end. C-Tech returned to the course with a No. 3 rig, perfect for the conditions. Most, who had chosen their No. 2 rig, were finding their skiffs hard to harness in the stiffer breeze.

The top three started in close proximity again, and the race nearly became the classic ‘Last Man Standing’, as most capsized at least once. Even the faultless Sydney Sailmakers was not immune, following Little Bus into the water under kite soon after rounding Nielsen Park.

C-Tech alone was revelling in the conditions, leaving the carnage behind. Airborne with every bump, Vailings-Brown stayed cool until around 600 metres from the finish, when they too capsized. With Sydney Sailmakers making up ground, all looked lost for the Kiwis, but Vailings and Brown re-floated quickly and crossed the finish just before the Australians.

'Finally,' said C-Tech’s Fraser Brown. 'We finally got the strong conditions we love,' he said with a big smile.

Hobson/Phillips (Geotherm) took third place, Ugly Stick (Simon Ganley-Oliver Scott-Mackie, NZL) was fourth, Big Foot Custom Trapeze Harnesses (Murray Press-Scott Lanham) fifth and Hempel Yacht Paints sixth.

Little Bus finished 10th after a couple of swims, allowing Geotherm back into the picture. One point separates the two, which are second and third placed going into tomorrow’s last race, which will decide their fate.

'It was a little bit hectic,' Nick Press said ashore. 'Twenty knots on a bumpy sea; we had heaps on in the bear-aways, but it was great once we got going downhill.'

Dropping second and third races from their scorecard, Press said: 'I think we have it stitched up – barring any incidents. The other guys have had challenges which we fortunately didn’t. I thought we might win the last race, but Ging (Vailings) got up. He had his No. 3 rig; the No. 2 was a bit of a handful.'

Brett Hobson agreed that Race nine was hectic. 'But we like it like that,' he said. On the rest of the race and all it entailed: 'Everything happened at once. The kite sheet wrapped around the rudder pin, we had land on one side and cruisers on the other – nowhere to go – and then we capsized. We’re a bit disappointed in our day. The goal always is to win.'

Hosted by the 18 Footers League at Double Bay, with assistance from Double Bay Sailing Club, the 12ft skiff Interdominion finishes with one long race tomorrow starting from 3.00pm.

Top four results after nine races and two drops:
1. Sydney Sailmakers 1-(3)-1-1-(2)-2-2-1-2, 10 points
2. Little Bus 2-(5)-4-2-1-3-1-3-(10), 16
3. Geotherm (4)-1-2-3-3-(5)-3-2-3, 17
4. C-Tech 3-2-8-4-4-1-(11)-(DNF)-1, 23

55th 12 Foot Skiff  Interdominion  Championship 2015
Hosted by NSW 12ft Sailing Skiff Association at Australian 18 Footers League, Double Bay
Silasec Trophy

Bow #	Nat	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	Total Points	1st D'card	D'card Total	Series Points	Series Place
43	AUS-T	Sydney Sailmakers	Nick Press	Andrew Stevenson	12	3	3	9	1
44	NZL-T	Little Bus	Chris Reid	Andrew Clarke	18	5	5	13	2
23	AUS-T	Geotherm	Brett Hobson	Brad Phillips	21	5	5	16	3
54	NZL-T	C-Tech White	Alex Vallings	Fraser Brown	33	11	11	22	4
7	AUS-T	Big Foot Custom Trapeze Harnesses	Murray Press (V)	Scott Lanham	42	9	9	33	5
25	AUS-T	Lincoln Crowne	Jonathan Temple (V)	Richard Jones	61	20	20	41	6
46	NZL-T	As Good As It Gets	Glenn Armstrong	Roger Barnes	61	15	15	46	7
5	AUS-T	Skoll	Peter Polec (V)	Jamie McCrudden	67	14	14	53	8
55	AUS-T	Ghetto Sled	Richard Billet	Ben Cross	85	29	29	56	9
1	AUS	Maersk	Adam Forbes	Alex Johnson	90	29	29	61	10
45	AUS	Cunning Stunts	Lachie Paramor	Scott Hobson	94	29	29	65	11
30	NZL-T	Ugly Stick	Simon Ganley	Oliver Scott-Mackie	88	21	21	67	12
31	AUS-T	The Bird	Dave Lusty (V)	Glenn Farquhar	81	14	14	67	12
81	AUS	Hempel Yacht Paints	Michael Spies (V)	Robbie Polec	99	29	29	70	14
36	NZL-T	One and In	Ben De Flutier	Matt Kelway	95	24	24	71	15
71	AUS	Your Move Conveyancing	Dave Winning	Josh McCormack	117	20	20	97	16
39	AUS	Stay Connected Electrical	Jacob Ronowicz	Craig Nicholson	130	29	29	101	17
40	NZL-T	Liquid	Mike Rhodes	Thomas Olds	124	23	23	101	17
51	AUS	Havoc	Josh Franklin (N)	Jono Andersen	131	29	29	102	19
66	NZL-T	W2 Training	Tim Snedden (N)	Will Wright	141	29	29	112	20
29	AUS	Hey Charger!	Nick Bernard (V)	Billy Lusty	137	24	24	113	21
17	AUS	www.skiff.org.au	Ben Faulkner	Renn Holland	136	22	22	114	22
3	AUS	Chapman High Performance Sailing	Adrienne Cahalan (V)	Brett Phillips	140	24	24	116	23
61	AUS	Arrogant Frog	Peter Hill	Steve Hill	153	29	29	124	24
63	AUS	Slippery When Wet	John Williams (V)	Macca Paton	168	29	29	139	25
19	AUS	Citadel	Martin Debelle (V)	Ian Terley	170	26	26	144	26
53	AUS	At Call	John Mulquiney (N)	Angus Musgrove	192	29	29	163	27
15	AUS	Cougar	Cam Russell (N)	Brad Madders	198	29	29	169	28

 

55th 12 Foot Skiff  Interdominion  Championship 2015
Hosted by NSW 12ft Sailing Skiff Association at Australian 18 Footers League, Double Bay
Jack Winning Handicap Trophy 

Bow #	Nat	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	Total Points	1st D'card	D'card Total	Series Points	Series Place
7	AUS-T	Big Foot Custom Trapeze Harnesses	Murray Press (V)	Scott Lanham	47	13	13	34	1
31	AUS-T	The Bird	Dave Lusty (V)	Glenn Farquhar	48	12	12	36	2
5	AUS-T	Skoll	Peter Polec (V)	Jamie McCrudden	51	13	13	38	3
43	AUS-T	Sydney Sailmakers	Nick Press	Andrew Stevenson	64	17	17	47	4
23	AUS-T	Geotherm	Brett Hobson	Brad Phillips	67	16	16	51	5
45	AUS	Cunning Stunts	Lachie Paramor	Scott Hobson	80	29	29	51	5
54	NZL-T	C-Tech White	Alex Vallings	Fraser Brown	85	24	24	61	7
1	AUS	Maersk	Adam Forbes	Alex Johnson	92	29	29	63	8
30	NZL-T	Ugly Stick	Simon Ganley	Oliver Scott-Mackie	87	24	24	63	8
44	NZL-T	Little Bus	Chris Reid	Andrew Clarke	87	22	22	65	10
63	AUS	Slippery When Wet	John Williams (V)	Macca Paton	94	29	29	65	10
71	AUS	Your Move Conveyancing	Dave Winning	Josh McCormack	90	21	21	69	12
39	AUS	Stay Connected Electrical	Jacob Ronowicz	Craig Nicholson	99	29	29	70	13
81	AUS	Hempel Yacht Paints	Michael Spies (V)	Robbie Polec	101	29	29	72	14
61	AUS	Arrogant Frog	Peter Hill	Steve Hill	103	29	29	74	15
36	NZL-T	One and In	Ben De Flutier	Matt Kelway	104	24	24	80	16
51	AUS	Havoc	Josh Franklin (N)	Jono Andersen	109	29	29	80	16
40	NZL-T	Liquid	Mike Rhodes	Thomas Olds	108	24	24	84	18
19	AUS	Citadel	Martin Debelle (V)	Ian Terley	112	26	26	86	19
25	AUS-T	Lincoln Crowne	Jonathan Temple (V)	Richard Jones	112	25	25	87	20
55	AUS-T	Ghetto Sled	Richard Billet	Ben Cross	122	29	29	93	21
17	AUS	www.skiff.org.au	Ben Faulkner	Renn Holland	118	23	23	95	22
29	AUS	Hey Charger!	Nick Bernard (V)	Billy Lusty	125	25	25	100	23
66	NZL-T	W2 Training	Tim Snedden (N)	Will Wright	131	29	29	102	24
3	AUS	Chapman High Performance Sailing	Adrienne Cahalan (V)	Brett Phillips	131	23	23	108	25
46	NZL-T	As Good As It Gets	Glenn Armstrong	Roger Barnes	137	26	26	111	26
53	AUS	At Call	John Mulquiney (N)	Angus Musgrove	180	29	29	151	27
15	AUS	Cougar	Cam Russell (N)	Brad Madders	195	29	29	166	28