18ft Skiff Australian Championship Races 3 & 4

Races 3 and 4 of the 2022-23 Australian 18ft Skiff Championship were conducted over two windward-leeward courses in NE winds which ranged between 10 and 22 knots on Sydney Harbour today and produced some of the best, action-packed, speed sailing for the spectators.

With wins split between Rag & Famish Hotel and Andoo on the day, going into tomorrow's final two races, the championship is wide open and the final outcome will probably not be known until the end of Race 6.

Birkenhead Point Marina and The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines - 18ft Skiff Australian Championship - photo © Frank Quealey

With each team permitted to discard its worst performance from the six races, the closeness of the points table after today's racing becomes complicated but provides supporters with a guaranteed excitement as the leading teams battle for the coveted title in tomorrow's final races.

Finport Finance (Keagan York, Angus Williams, Phil Marshall) presently leads with a total of 10 points, followed by Lazarus (Marcus Ashley-Jones, Rob Bell, Jeronimo Harrison) and Smeg (Michael Coxon, Ricky Bridge, Tom Anderson) each on 14, Andoo (John Winning Jr) on 16, Yandoo (John Winning) 23 and Shaw & Partners Financial Services (Jim Colley) on 27.

In the first of today's two races, the NE wind ranged between 10-15 knots and resulted in a victory for Rag & Famish Hotel (Harry Price, Lewis Brake, Harry Hall) grabbed a 37s victory from Finport Finance, with Shaw & Partners (Jim Colley, Max Paul, Tom Quigley) a further 17s back in third place.

Lazarus finished in fourth place, ahead of Yandoo and Smeg.

Andoo's winning style in Race 4 - 18ft Skiff Australian Championship - photo © Frank Quealey

Andoo, with Jono Whitty standing in for regular skipper John Winning Jr, had led for most of the race but capsized on a gybe on a spinnaker run to the finish.

Rag & Famish Hotel had been pressuring Andoo for most of the race and took advantage of the mishap to win her first race of the series.

In the second race, the wind strengthened considerably and was mostly 18-22 knots for the entire two laps of the course.

After a sensational start to the race which saw both Finport Finance and Race 3 winner Rag & Famish Hotel capsize in separate incidents, Andoo (Jono Whitty, Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton) soon had the race at her mercy as the crew displayed some spectacular teamwork to win by a healthy 1m12s margin.

Lazarus - 18ft Skiff Australian Championship - photo © Frank Quealey

The race for second place was exciting and held the crowd's attention to the very end as only 4s separated the second-placed Lazarus and third-placed Smeg in an exciting, high speed dash.

Yandoo finished in fourth place, ahead of series leader Finport Finance and Burrawang-Young Henrys (Simon Nearn).

NOTE: The final two races of the Australian 18ft Skiff Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour tomorrow, Sunday, January 29.

Spectators can follow the action on board the club's spectator ferry, as they have done for the past 87 years, which leaves Double Bay Wharf alongside the clubhouse at 2pm.

Booking online through the club's website www.18footers.com is essential, 18footers.com/18-footer-racing/spectator-ferry

For anyone who can't make it out onto the water, the League's live broadcast team will be out on Sydney Harbour to capture all the action. Live streaming is available at www.18footers.com by clicking on the '18 Footers TV' link.

Results after Day 2: (four races)