Manly 16ft Skiff Club frothing at the bit

by Brad Andrew on 24 Jan 2008 When most people think of the Manly 16ft Skiff Club, the vision turns to cold beers on hot summer days on the magnificent waterfront deck.

But behind the scenes there has been a small, dedicated group ensuring the reason the club started all those years ago - to propagate sailing - wasn't lost amid the seafood platters and schooners of New.

People like Michael McMahon, Hugh Cooke, Rolf Cohen, Craig Nicholls, Brad Andrew, Mark Graham and Clint Bowen have poured time and effort into transforming Manly into arguably the most successful sailing club in Australia.

Four national trophies - the 16s, 13s, Manly Juniors and Flying 11s - will reside in the East Esplanade clubhouse for the next 12 months.

Fire Stopping (James Dorron) heads the list of triumphs, at 19 the youngest skipper to win a national 16s title in the championship's 86-year history.

Typhoon Shirts (Mitchell White & Jay Harris) kept things rolling with victory in the 13s before Too Hot to Hoot (Robert Wojcik & Grace Triglone) made it a hat-trick with success in the Manly Juniors.

That left the Flying 11s as the last leg in the quadrella.

Sailing on home waters last week, the pressure to succeed was on and Alex McFadyen and Matthew Stocks, aboard Boris, duly obliged to complete the club's best season in almost 90 years.

Manly's sailing manager, Brad Andrew, said of the unprecedented success: 'It's an outstanding feat by the club and one that will be hard to beat.
 
'The dedication shown by our sailors is second to none but these sorts of results cannot be achieved without the support of our team of volunteers and race officials.

'Their contribution is second to none.
 
'The support received from our board of directors, members and club sponsors is also outstanding and helps achieve the results we have had in the last few weeks.'

It's always dangerous to pick out one person for praise but Andrew was happy to break the rule for club coach Robert “Baz” Aitkens.

'To claim gold in all classes is something that is not achieved on a yearly basis,' Andrew pointed out.

'Robert has coached our club for the last 15 years on a voluntary basis, four days per week, and I think that his support and dedication to our sailors has shown through this past couple of weeks.'

http://www.manlyskiff.com.au/