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18ft Skiff Australian Championship on Sydney Harbour - Day 2

by Frank Quealey 27 Jan 2019 01:06 PST 27 January 2019

In contrast to the almost non-existent wind which ruined the first day's racing in the Australian 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour last Sunday, a southerly wind of more than 25-knots today provided excellent conditions for some fast, action-packed racing on Day 2.

Winds were so strong that every team had problems during the two windward-return races staged in Rose Bay.

The strong Smeg team of Michael Coxon, Ricky Bridge and Mike McKensey handled the conditions brilliantly while many others around them floundered or capsized.

After trailing Bing Lee (Micah Lane) at the windward mark early in the race, Smeg's downwind speed enabled her to grab the lead and the skiff was not headed over the rest of the course.

At the end of the three laps, Smeg crossed the finish line 1m58s ahead of second placed The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Aron Everett, Tom Clout, Reece Goldsmith), with Appliancesonline.com.au (Brett Van Munster, Phil Marshall, Kurt Fatouris0 another 35s back in third place.

Winning Group (John Winning Jr) was an impressive fourth after recovering from an earlier capsize, followed by Vintec (Kirk Mitchell) and Bing Lee.

As the battered fleet regrouped for the second race of the day, four of the original 18 starters were missing.

Once again, Bing Lee and Smeg led the fleet to the first windward mark but an unexpected capsize by the Smeg crew left Bing Lee to try and fend off the challenge by the Winning Group skiff.

The experience of John Winning Jr., Sam Newton and Seve Jarvin was clearly on display and the Winning Group was soon in front, then led the fleet over the next two laps of the course.

With victory in sight the Winning Group's crew prepared for the final gybe only to capsize and leave Micah Lane, Peter Harris and Scott Babbage to take the honours in Bing Lee.

The consistent The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone (Jordan Girdis, Tom Quigley, Lachlan Doyle) were rewarded for their efforts when the young team finished second, 4m5s behind Bing Lee.

Winning Group recovered from their capsize to come home in third place, 35s behing The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone.

Asko Appliances (James Dorron) was fourth, followed by Dal Zotto (Jack Sprague) and Smeg.

Despite the mishap in Race 4, Winning Group leads the points on 8, followed by Bing Lee on 11, The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone on 12 Smeg 13, The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines 18 and Appliancesonline.com.au on 21.

Race 5 of the championship will be sailed next Sunday.

Race 3 Results:

PosBoat Name (Skipper)FinishElaspedHandicapCorrected
1Smeg (MICHAEL COXON)15:24:0900:34:09000:34:09
2The Oak Double Bay / 4 Pines (ARON EVERETT)15:26:0700:36:07500:31:07
3AppliancesOnline.com.au (BRETT VAN MUNSTER)15:26:4200:36:422.500:34:12
4Winning Group (JOHN WINNING Jr)15:27:1200:37:120.500:36:42
5Vintec (KIRK MITCHELL)15:27:4500:37:452.500:35:15
6Bing Lee (MICAH LANE)15:28:1700:38:171.500:36:47
7thekitchenmaker.com.au (JORDAN GIRDIS)15:30:0300:40:03200:38:03
8Ilve (JONO WHITTY)15:31:4000:41:404.500:37:10
9Dal Zotto (JACK SPRAGUE)15:31:5500:41:554.500:37:25
10Yandoo (JOHN WINNING)15:36:3300:46:332.500:44:03
11RMarine Pittwater (SIMON NEARN)15:39:2900:49:29300:46:29
DNFASKO Appliances (JAMES DORRON)    
DNFFinport Finance (CHRIS DRAPER)    
DNFMMM (TOM ANDERSON)    
DNFNoakesailing (SEAN LANGMAN)    
DNFRag & Famish Hotel (BRYCE EDWARDS)    
DNFLumix (KATIE LOVE)    

Race 4 Results:

PosBoat Name (Skipper)FinishElaspedHandicapCorrected
1Bing Lee (MICAH LANE)16:19:5000:34:502.500:32:20
2thekitchenmaker.com.au (JORDAN GIRDIS)16:23:5500:38:55300:35:55
3Winning Group (JOHN WINNING Jr)16:24:3000:39:301.500:38:00
4ASKO Appliances (JAMES DORRON)16:24:3900:39:39100:38:39
5Dal Zotto (JACK SPRAGUE)16:25:3900:40:39500:35:39
6Smeg (MICHAEL COXON)16:26:5200:41:52200:39:52
7AppliancesOnline.com.au (BRETT VAN MUNSTER)16:29:3600:44:36300:41:36
8The Oak Double Bay / 4 Pines (ARON EVERETT)16:35:2100:50:21500:45:21
9RMarine Pittwater (SIMON NEARN)16:41:2700:56:27400:52:27
10Noakesailing (SEAN LANGMAN)16:45:5101:00:51400:56:51
DNCFinport Finance (CHRIS DRAPER)    
DNCMMM (TOM ANDERSON)    
DNSQuality Marine Clothing (YVETTE HERITAGE)    
DNCRag & Famish Hotel (BRYCE EDWARDS)    
DNCLumix (KATIE LOVE)    
DNFIlve (JONO WHITTY)    
DNFVintec (KIRK MITCHELL)    
DNFYandoo (JOHN WINNING)    

NOTE:

The Australian 18ft Skiff Championship will continue on the following dates; Sundays February 3, February 10, February 17.

For those who can't make it onto the water live streaming is available on 18FootersTV.

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