JJ Giltinan Trophy - Yamaha takes fourth win from seven races in 30kts

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 5 Mar 2017 The final race in the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship was another win for Yamaha NZ - her fourth in the series.

The overall trophy, first contested in 1938, was won by Australian National Champion, Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon) however a controversial decision from the Protest Committee in Race 3 may be taken to Appeal by Yamaha.

Conditions for the seventh race were similar to several previous races - a strong breeze with big shifts and holes, overcast skies and some rain. Crews raced with their smaller No. 2 rigs.

'At times it was very windy, and other times we didn't have quite so much, said Yamaha NZ skipper David McDiarmid.

'We got a medium start - but didn't launch like we did in a couple of other races with the No.2 rig. Got to the top mark in good shape and then just sailed around from there. We had a bit of a challenge from Thurlow for one upwind leg and a half of a reach. They got in front of us for some of the race, but once we got through, we just smoked them from there and won by 1min44sec.'

'There were massive shifts with massive pressure - it wasn't the easiest day to sail around the harbour. But in the end, it was a fairly comfortable win for us.'

'We saw winds from 12-30kts. A couple of the puffs were 30kts going upwind. At one stage there were three of us in a row, not going very fast with our sails flapping - all trying to go upwind. We all did the same thing. At one point it was hard to sail upwind.

Yamaha managed to evade the strong wind initially on the downwind legs.

'We rounded the first mark in a big puff but managed to get the kite on and went down the harbour in ideal skiff conditions - 25kts and flat water. The guys behind us didn't seem to get that - the wind seemed to kick up a chop very suddenly, and it didn't seem that fast.'

The fourth win in the series would seem to be unprecedented for a boat that did not go on to win the JJ Giltinan Trophy.

Commentators hammered the fact that you have to be consistent to win the JJ Giltinan and were quick to point to Yamaha's performance with her No. 1 rig - where she scored a DNF, fifth and 19th.

The DNF has been widely covered, but if the original Jury decision to grant redress had not been overturned, Yamaha would have been a clear winner of the Trophy.

'We won a race in the JJ's last year with the No.1 rig - in the fifth place this year it was with unknown settings on the broken vang we replaced from the race before. One race we got fifth, one race we got taken out, and the other we had an absolute shocker'. (After having to do penalty turns to cover them for a port and starboard infringement after the start).

On the ongoing protest controversy from Race 3 where redress of average points was initially given to Yamaha, a third attempt at getting re-opening failed on the morning of the final race.

'It is up to us to Appeal it. They wouldn't even hear it this morning saying there was no new evidence presented, even though one of the Thurlow Fisher crew put four photos to the Protest Committee before us. Thurlow wasn't a party or witness to any of the other Hearings. The Protest Committee wouldn't take any of my evidence.'

'The Thurlow Fisher photos sat on the table, and I had to talk to them before our attempt at getting a Hearing. The Thurlow Fisher crew member remained sitting in the bar when our Hearing was on. We wanted a closed Hearing Room, but their comment was that we were lucky we weren't in the men's toilets because that is where we usually go for hearings.'

'We asked for the Thurlow Fisher crew member to be removed, which was refused but we were just told to talk quietly.'

'The Thurlow Fisher crew member was the only other person in the Bar, and he stayed there for the whole time we were in the Hearing.'

Thurlow Fisher (AUS) placed second in the final race and won the JJ Giltinan Trophy for 2017. Cooper Rags and Famish (AUS) finished third in the final race to take second place overall with Yamaha (NZ) and C-Tech (NZ) finishing equal third on points, with the tie-breaker going the way of Yamaha as she had the most race wins of the two boats.

If an Appeal is lodged with Australian Sailing and is successful, then Yamaha will win with a score of 10.8pts, Thurlow Fisher second on 16 and Coopers Rag and Famish will be third on 25pts.

The series attracted a fleet of 26 entries from Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Scandanavia and USA. Full results are not available.