Fire Stopping stuns 16' skiff Nationals

by Brad Andrew on 15 Jan 2008 Manly's 16ft Skiff Club's summer of dominance is three-quarters complete after three national crowns made their way back to the peninsula following a busy start to the year.

Headlining the hat-trick was Fire Stopping's brilliant victory in the Australian 16ft Skiff Championships in Brisbane.

Nineteen-year-old skipper James Dorron is believed to be the youngest person in the regatta's 86-year year history to claim top spot at the nationals.

And in the class which helped hone his sailing skills - the 13 footers - Manly again triumphed through Mitchell White and Jay Harris aboard Typhoon Shirts.

Robert Wojcik and Grace Triglone rounded off the trifecta by winning the Manly Juniors national crown, steering Too Hot to Hoot to top spot narrowly edging fellow Manly boats Spiked and Another Dark & Stormy by 1 point each. .

With Manly hosting the Flying 11 Australian Championships this week, the club is confident of making it a clean sweep by claiming a fourth piece of silverware for the overcrowded trophy cabinet. After two heats yesterday Manly’s team had clinched two wins and two seconds.

But it is Dorron's remarkable performance which still has more senior rivals talking.

After finishing third at the state championships in his first year in the 16s, the cool-as-you-like teenager teamed with James Bury and Rob Napper to stun the big fleet in contrasting conditions on Brisbane's Manly Harbour.

Fire Stopping picked up six top five finishes (including two firsts) to eclipse OAS (Danny Anderson) by a mere 0.4 of a point.

Manly clubmate and former national champion Fluid Building Services (Clint Bowen) was third.

'It's pretty amazing to think I'm the youngest to win the title,' the modest Dorron said.

'We put a lot of hard work into it so it was good to get the result.'

Bury added: 'It's really good for the club in general…shows we've got good depth there.'

'As for James, we sponsored the 13ft skiff (Dorron skippered) and we've just been watching him.

'We took him for a couple of sails at the end of last season and everything clicked.

'We thought 'young bloke, let's give him a shot'. We thought it would take two to thee years but he's done it already.

'It wasn't too much of a gamble.'