Australian 16ft Skiff National Championships at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club

Australian 16ft Skiff National Championships at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club - Overall

by Adam Lucius 14 Jan 06:29 PST 7-14 January 2023

Moonen finishes 2nd in the 2023 Australian 16ft Championships © SailMedia

A broken rudder pin worth around $20 left one boat heart-broken and another ecstatic as the Australian 16ft Championships ended in the same dramatic way they started at Manly on Saturday.

St George entrant Noakes (Dave O'Connor) looked set for the club's first national title in 25 years as it sat eight places ahead of nearest rival Typhoon (Nathan Wilmot) with three-quarters of the final race done. But in another reminder to take nothing for granted in sailing, Noakes took a swim and resurfaced to find its rudder pin out. Crew member Pete Mackie did his best to repair the damage while treading water, but the task proved impossible and the boat and devastated crew required a tow back to the beach.

Typhoon couldn't believe its luck, slowly moving its way through the pack to finish ninth and secure a second successive national title and a win for Manly in the club's 100th year. "We went into Grotto and a big Pro-Dive boat went through and we tacked and capsized the boat," Noakes' Ricky Bridge explained. "We tried to get going but the pin had come out of the bottom gudgeon. "I'm not sure how it happened - it's the one that got away but what do you do? "You've just got to deal with it."

While it was pure devastation in the Noakes camp, it was all smiles 200m away as Typhoon celebrated one of the great escapes. "The whole race we were just working as hard as we could thinking anything could happen," Wilmot said. "We had a drop to fall back on and they didn't so we kept chipping away and in the end it worked for us. "It's a shame it ended that way for them because they're a really good bunch of blokes and had a good week. We definitely got a bit lucky there."

Noakes won four heats but an 18th, a 32nd and, ultimately, a DNF cruelled its hopes. Typhoon finished seven points clear of clubmate Moonen Yachts (Daniel Turner) with Noakes third, Belmont's SKE Electrical (Scott Babbage) fourth and IMEI (Dave Gilmour) from Manly in fifth. The Craig Nicholls-owned Typhoon enjoyed six top five finishes but started the last day three points in arrears of Noakes. It needed a minor miracle - and was duly delivered one.

Noakes finishes 3rd in the 2023 Australian 16ft Championships - photo © SailMedia

Wilmot, bowman Mal Page and stand-in sheethand Zac Barnabas, who came out of semi-retirement just two weeks ago to help the team, were swarmed by well-wishers as they celebrated with a freshly tapped keg of beer at the boatshed. Page, an Olympic champion like Wilmot, has seen plenty in his time in sailing but still looked slightly shocked at how it all unfolded. He said: "It was a weird race. Noakes had it in the bag really until that equipment failure. "It's very unfortunate for them but I've always said good luck and bad luck is dealt out equally throughout the week and maybe life was paying us back in some way. "I do feel for the Noakes boys because you don't want to necessarily win like that, but you take your breaks in sailing when you get them. "It's been great working with 'Ed' (Nicholls) and I'm so happy for him and happy we were able to deliver Manly a national title in their 100th year."

For Barnabas, who had a year off sailing to concentrate on his burgeoning rugby career, this was a pinch yourself moment. "I was a last-minute call up and to be able to sail with these guys and win a nationals is incredible," he said. "I couldn't say no to them and I'm glad I didn't."

The handicap win was some slight consolation for Noakes, the St George boys finishing on top ahead of MH44 (Eva Attwood) from Middle Harbour, Manly's Cunninghams (Nick Connor) and Eric's Storage (Harry Lawson). Manly's Southerly (Zoe Dransfield) won the 16s female division, Typhoon took out the masters and Belmont's Light and Wonder topped the youth category.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Name	Skipper	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	Typhoon	Nathan Wilmot	M16SSC	ABN	2	1	[10]	6	3	5	2	5	[9]	24
2	Moonen Yachts	Daniel Turner	M16SSC	ABN	5	2	5	8	[12]	3	[11]	6	2	31
3	Noakes	Dave O'Connor	StGSC	ABN	[32]	5	1	1	18	6	1	1	[49F]	33
4	SKE Electrical	Scott Babbage	B16	ABN	[19]	[35]	7	3	15	1	5	2	1	34
5	IMEI	David Gilmour	M16SSC	ABN	4	6	2	4	5	[10]	9	[10]	5	35
6	Sail Racing	Felix Grech	M16SSC	ABN	1	3	[12]	2	[22]	8	7	7	11	39
7	NHS Building Supplies	Tom Dawson	B16	ABN	[49F]	[28]	3	5	6	7	17	3	3	44
8	Eric's Storage	Harry Lawson	MH16SC	ABN	6	4	14	[17]	1	9	[20]	4	10	48
9	Cunninghams	Nick Connor	M16SSC	ABN	[29]	11	11	9	2	4	[21]	8	6	51
10	Skelcon	Henry Makin	B16	ABN	23	10	8	7	[27]	2	8	[49F]	8	66
11	Tribeca	Ben Bradley	StGSC	ABN	15	9	6	[20]	4	[21]	10	12	15	71
12	Dominos	Michael Quirk	B16	ABN	8	[20]	16	13	16	[28]	3	16	4	76
13	Musto	Hugh Stodart	M16SSC	ABN	11	17	[21]	12	10	15	4	11	[49B]	80
14	Light & Wonder	Matt Meaney	B16	ABN	9	[24]	[24]	11	17	11	6	13	20	87
15	Botany Access	Chris Thomas	M16SSC	ABN	10	12	9	14	8	22	[27]	[24]	16	91
16	Southerly	Zoe Dransfield	M16SSC	ABN	3	8	[30]	[32]	11	17	18	15	21	93
17	Nozomi	Andrew Chapman	B16	ABN	25	[29]	[49F]	10	13	18.5	16	14	7	103.5
18	Red Pumps Red	Tyler Dransfield	M16SSC	ABN	12	19	4	15	19	[24]	[23]	18	17	104
19	Fluid Building	Clint Bowen	M16SSC	ABN	14	13	25	[27]	[30]	23	12	9	12	108
20	Sutech Building Consultants	Michael Koerner	M16SSC	ABN	7	7	15	23	25	[26]	[28]	19	14	110
21	Infinity Rigging	Lachlan Steel	StGSC	ABN	17	16	18	18	[21]	16	13	17V	[36]	115
22	RW Retail	Carlton Smith	DPSS	ABN	20	[31]	17	21	20	14	14	[25]	23	129
23	Red Pumps	Bruce Savage	M16SSC	ABN	[36]	25	13	19	9	31	22	[49H]	13	132
24	Outback Marine	Georgia Clancy	M16SSC	ABN	16	[27]	26	16	14	[27]	25	26	18	141
25	Capital Brewing Co.	Jessica Iles	M16SSC	ABN	13	23	[42]	[36]	26	13	30	17	24	146
26	Noakes Blue	Ryan Ewings	StGSC	ABN	24	21	22	26	7	[29]	26	[31]	25	151
27	Kamikaze	Richard Williams	MH16SC	ABN	30	[34]	23	22	[33]	12	19	.7V	27	157.7
28	Shebang	Anthony King	M16SSC	ABN	22	[30]	29	25	[39]	25	15	22	22	160
29	Chubbs	Jesse Dransfield	M16SSC	ABN	26.5	18	20	24	23	[32]	31	21	[49H]	163.5
30	Firestopping	Alex Hart	M16SSC	ABN	26.5	[38]	28	29	[35]	20	24	20	30	177.5
31	CMG Property Maintenance	Michael Vincent	MH16SC	ABN	21	26	27	28	24	[36]	[42]	33	19	178
32	Toogara	Josh Tasker	StGSC	ABN	33	15	[35]	30	28	18.5	32	[49F]	26	182.5
33	Employment Hero	Will Divola	M16SSC	ABN	18	22	32	[41]	31	30	[49F]	23	35	191
34	Edenda	Matilda Lang	DSC	ABN	28	[36]	[39]	31	32	35	33	29	34	222
35	Bartley Construction 16	Nathan Lilley	M16SSC	ABN	35	33	31	35	[49O]	37	[39]	28	29	228
36	MH44	Eva Attwood	MH16SC	ABN	36N	19N	41	37	34	38	[44]	27	[49F]	232
37	FIREBALL	James Downey	M16SSC	ABN	[40]	37	38	38	[42]	33	29	30	28	233
38	P Leahy	Mark Willson	MH16SC	ABN	34	32	33	33	29	39	[43]	[49F]	33	233
39	Wichard	Zac Heyes	B16	ABN	37	40	34	34	36	[44]	[49F]	35	37	253
40	Konami	Bethany Sherry	B16	ABN	38	45	19	43	38	[49B]	37	[49F]	49C	269
41	Weathertex	Jess Rivers	B16	ABN	44	42	[49F]	40	43	34	35	[49F]	31	269
42	Shead	Marilyn Sorensen	MH16SC	ABN	42	41	37	[44]	41	42	34	[49F]	32	269
43	Man Flu	Nicholas Stabback	MH16SC	ABN	39	[43]	36	42	40	40	36	37	[49F]	270
44	Skiffropes.com	Amy Hargrave	MH16SC	ABN	45	39	40	[49F]	45	41	38	34	[49F]	282
45	Joe Walsh Rigging	Kye Rivers	M16SSC	ABN	[49N]	[49C]	44	45	37	43	40	36	39	284
46	XXXX Gold	Neale Jones	B16	ABN	41	44	[48N]	44N	[46]	46	41	32	38	286
47	Erics Removals	Joshua Theunissen	MH16SC	ABN	43	46	[49F]	[49C]	44	45	49F	49F	49F	325
48	Bella Group	Georgia Steenson	B16	ABN	[49C]	[49C]	49C	49C	49C	49C	49C	49C	49C	343