Kitchen Maker Australian 12ft Skiffs - Sydney Sailmakers dominate

by Ollie Hartas on 17 Apr 2017 The opening race of the 82 Kitchen Maker Australian 12ft Skiff Titles got underway on Friday, sailed in a light 5 – 8 knot East – South East breeze on a perfect late sunny Autumn day.

The start had most of the fleet congested at the boat end, with Geothern, LCC, Sydney Sailmakers and Geotherm managing to break through. Unfortunately for Murray and Charlie on Big Foot Custom Trapeze Harnesses, bearing behind Terms & Conditions resulted in a capsize at a crucial part of the race, just after the start, setting them back a few places.

The first work proved decisive, dominated by Geotherm and Sydney Sailmakers, with a gap to LCC and T&Cs, rounding high first and second respectively; and by the time LCC and T&Cs rounded, the breeze strengthened and shifted south east, allowing these two following boats to move to the front of the fleet just off Drummoyne.

From then on, those top four boats held their places, with close racing between the four, with Skoll closely on their heels.
In the meantime, pressure was on the rest of the fleet to make their way through up and down shifting breezes. The top crews shine in these conditions as they seamlessly move from one to two on the wire and back again.

The tight reach from Valencia saw some try to be heroes only to come unstuck, and then the timing to set the kite for the run down to Five Dock saw a few end up hurtling towards Woolwich Marina with the inevitable crash for some older crews.
A close and dramatic finish saw Sydney Sailmakers come through the fleet after a near collision mid race, pressuring the top boats, overtaking T&Cs, and proving troublesome for LCC, who managed to hold them off, and winning the first heat.

Race 2:
Another perfect sunny day for the spectators, and a light 8 knot easterly breeze setting up an orderly start for Race 2.

A great start for the young lads in The Arrogant Frog, and a capsize for The Bird prompted a change the rest of the fleet into action.

Sydney Sailmakers in form as always took to the lead, closely followed by Big Foot and Skoll, with Geotherm in the picture, challenged by Cbus and C-Tec who were looking pretty sharp.

First around the marks was Geotherm, with Sydney Sailmakers second, then Big Foot, LCC and Skoll, with a big log-jam in the first gybe out of the set allowing the front 4 to clear out with a big gap to the rest of the pack, where there was quite a park-up under the Manns Point mark. Down the first run, with Geotherm leading the pace. Sydney Sailmakers, in a bold move kept their spinnaker going alongside Clarke’s Point and saw them gliding past Geotherm into the lead.

Meanwhile action in the mid-fleet was dominated by The Frog, Hey Charger and Your Move Conveyancing. Those top four boats then stuck together, jostling to and fro through the upwind to the top mark, Geotherm and Sydney Sailmakers neck to neck, with Big Foot in their heels, and Skoll not giving an inch.

The last rounding saw Sydney Sailmakers showing their prowess, crossing the finish line first, with Geotherm second, Big Foot third, Skoll fourth, LCC in fifth, and T&Cs sixth. Great to see was some smart finishes by Your Move Conveyancing, Jack Winning and Chapman High Performance Sailing, and a big smile from Nick Bernard on Hey Charger making it through the top ten.

Race 3:
All lined for Race 3, saw the breeze coming and going from the east to south-east. Five and a half minutes before the gun, a shift to the north saw all the fleet caught short of the line. LCC put in 2 short tacks to take the place on the start-boat, with everyone then heading into the Greenwich shore. The tack onto port off the shore saw Sydney Sailmakers, Geotherm, LCC, Skol and Terms and Conditions in the front of the fleet.

All the boats playing the shifts to the mark at Manns Point, which saw LCC with a narrow lead from Terms and Conditions, the Sydney Sailmakers – all angling for the gybe-line into the Valentia St dogleg mark. Sydney Sailmakers rounded Valentia St first, and aimed to flog the spinnaker over Clarkes Point. Second at Valentia St was LCC, who elected to drop early, with Skol immediately to leeward: unfortunately Ben Austin the skipper parted company with the boat from a push from the forward hand who was use to a skipper about 50kgs heavier leading to a capsize, allowing Terms and Conditions and Geotherm to move up a place.

Sydney Sailmakers had a 100m lead and looked comfortable on the run to Drummoyne mark, with LCC, Terms and Conditions and Geotherm trading gybes down the run, with LCC rounding second with 50m lead to Geotherm. Both Geotherm and Terms and Conditions had spinnaker problems, slowing them on the work. Up to Manns Point, Sydney Sailmakers in the North, leading LCC to this side also, allowing Geotherm to gain a South Shift off Cockatoo Island bringing them into dead-heat for second with LCC.

Manns Point for the run to the finish, Sydney Sailmakers well clear, Geotherm around second and LCC third, Bigfoot fourth . Geotherm gybed north into Greenwich, allowing LCC to take a shift in the south to get second at the finish, with a ‘photo finish between Geotherm and Bigfoot, with the former taking third, Bigfoot fourth, and Terms and conditions fifth with Skol in sixth. It was said that the two old blokes on the Kiroshi had a big swim but apparently that was fake news.

Winners of the most prestigious prize was Citadel for doing more tumbles than Nadia Comanche.