Please select your home edition
Edition
Doyle_SailWorld_728X90px_cruise TOP

18ft Skiff Spring Championship on Sydney Harbour - Race 2

by Frank Quealey 18 Oct 2020 03:05 PDT 18 October 2020

The Marcus Ashley-Jones led Andoo team produced a powerful last lap of the course to score a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the Australian 18 Footer League's Race 2 of the Spring 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.

After trailing the leader by 50s at the second windward mark, Ashley-Jones and his team mates Jeronimo Harrison and Cam Gundy revelled in the freshening breeze, which went from 8-10 knots in the East to 14-15 knots South-East.

The early leader The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone (Jordan Girdis, Lachlan Doyle, Tom Quigley) were sailing a great race but found the changing conditions too testing for the lighter crew weight.

Andoo grabbed a narrow lead as the pair approached the final windward mark and edged away on the tight reach between Shark Island and Clark Island to finish 33s ahead of The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone.

The first two teams benefited from the 3-buoy format and were clearly ahead of the rest of the fleet for most of the race.

Strongest performer from the backmarker group was the Winning Group team of Will Phillips, Seve Jarvin and Sam Newton, which finished a further 1m15s behind The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone, in third place.

Australian champion tech2, skippered by Jack Maacartney, finished in fourth place, ahead of Smeg (Michael Coxon), Yandoo (John Winning) and Bird and Beat (Tom Clout).

Following the two races staged so far, tech2 heads the points table on six points, followed by winning Group on 9, The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone and Smeg on 10, with The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Aron Everett) and Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Jim Colley) level on 12 points.

The race started in a 8-10 knot Easterly breeze and produced a number of lead changes as the fleet worked its way from the start at Robertson Point on the north side of the harbour to the windward 3-buoys marks in Rose Bay on the south.

The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone and Andoo took advantage of going to the 'red' buoy to lead from Bird and Bear, Noakes Blue (Andrew O'Brien), Yandoo and a large group of closely-bunched teams.

With clear air in the light breeze the two leaders edged away from the rest of the fleet to set up an unbeatable position by the half-way point, and were never really challenged.

The strong Smeg team were caught up in the bunch during the early stages of the race but showed the class of the team with a very strong performance over the concluding stages Race results and images from today's racing are attached.

Race 1 of the Club Championship in conjunction with Race 3 of the Spring Championship series will be conducted next Sunday, October 25.

The race should provide spectators with a great insight into the major championships later in the season.

Spectators can follow the racing on board the club's spectator ferry, however due to the COVID-19 policy, numbers are limited.

Booking online through the club's website is essential.

For those unable to make it out onto the water, AeroMedia Live Broadcast team will be on Sydney Harbour to capture all the action. Live streaming is available at www.18footers.com by clicking on the '18 Footers TV' link.

Related Articles

18ft Skiff European Championships
Germany's Black Knight takes the title by a single point The International 18 Footer League - European Championship 2025, hosted by Circolo Vela Arco, concluded on Thursday, after five days of spectacular racing featuring some of the fastest and most exciting skiffs in the sailing world. Posted on 27 Jun
Western Australia's 18 footers history
An on-off situation between the 1890s and 2013 Western Australia's participation in the Australian 18 footer scene has been an on-off situation between the 1890s and 2013 but its impact during the early years of the class demands that it is remembered today by all 18 footer supporters and enthusiasts. Posted on 11 Jun
The link between two great Australian sports
A unique connection between brute strength and beauty James Joseph Giltinan was one of Australia's great entrepreneurs of the early 1900s, and the man most responsible for creating a unique link between one of the most confrontational football codes in the world and the beauty of sailing. Posted on 25 May
The last 18' skiff champion before one design
Michael Spies won the 1993 and 1995 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championships When Michael Spies won the 1993 and 1995 World 18 footer championships, in his Julian Bethwaite-designed Winfield Racing skiff, he became the last winner of the title before the introduction of the new one-design 18 footer won its first title in 1996. Posted on 14 May
Smeg's 29 years of 18ft Skiff sponsorship success
It all began when a Trevor Barnabas-led team raced a skiff named Omega Smeg-2UE The Smeg Australia 18ft skiff sponsorship with the Australian 18 footers League began in 1996-97 and has continued harmoniously, with many great successes, over the following twenty nine seasons on Sydney Harbour. Posted on 7 May
The 18ft Skiff 'Big Boat Era'
The original 18 footers which raced from the 1890s to the mid-1930s We are all familiar with the modern 18 footers as they speed across Sydney Harbour with their carbon fibre hulls and lightweight state-of-the-art sails and spars but they a vastly different to the original 18 footers. Posted on 23 Apr
A look back at the 2003 18ft Skiff JJ Giltinan
The closest of 76 regattas in the greatest championship The recent JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship regatta produced some nervous moments for the Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake during the 'crazy' westerly conditions of the last race Posted on 30 Mar
Winnings JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship Day 7
The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake wrap up the win The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake became the world 18 footer champions after scoring a brilliant victory in the Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship, which concluded on Sydney Harbour today. Posted on 16 Mar
Winnings JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship Day 6
Yandoo in pole position going into Sunday's final race The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake went into today's Race 8 on Sydney Harbour with a two points lead over Finport Finance, its closest challenger to retaining the coveted title. Posted on 15 Mar
Winnings JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship Day 5
A critical race going into the weekend's final two races With just one point separating the two leading contenders for the Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship, today's Race 7 of the nine-race regatta was going to be critical going into the weekend's final two races. Posted on 13 Mar
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERPredictWind - Offshore App 728x90 BOTTOMExposure Marine