18ft Skiffs: New combination takes NSW title
by Frank Quealey 23 Jan 2018 03:00 PST
24 January 2018
Smeg powers through the chop - NSW Championship, January 21, 2018 © Frank Quealey
After last Sunday's race was postponed due to the very strong winds which battered Sydney Harbour, two windward-return races were held today to determine the NSW 18ft Skiff Champion for 2017-2018 Season.
In total contrast to last Sunday, a perfect 17-knot North East wind provided competitors and spectators with some of the most exciting racing we've seen, and the new 2-race format was an instant success.
A day of thrills and spills ended with a fairy tale victory for the brand new The Kitchen Maker team of Scott Babbage, Tom Quigley and Sam Ellis becoming the 2017-2018 NSW champions.
The Kitchen Maker finished with a net total of 10 points, defeating the experienced Smeg team of Lee Knapton, Ricky Bridge and Mile McKensey by just one point.
Asko Appliances (James Dorron, Paul Montague and Harry Bethwaite recovered from a disastrous start in Race 5 to finish with a brilliant win in the final race to take third place on 13 points.
The veteran Yandoo team (John Winning) was fourth on 18 points, followed by another young team, Noakes Youth, skippered by Kirk Mitchell on 19 and Triple M (James Ward) on 21.
In the first of today's two races, Yandoo took the early lead and led for most of the course before being run down by the super quick The Kitchen Maker on the run to the finish.
The breeze seemed to freshen for the latter race and the Smeg team were determined to make up for a capsize in Race 4 when they grabbed an early lead.
There was little between the two red boats , Smeg and Asko Appliances, and this may have been a fore-runner for what we can expect in the upcoming Australian and JJ Giltinan Championship.
The two teams were side by side around the final mark but quicker spinnaker work on Asko enabled her to win by 12s.