Manly Junior 2025 State Championship - All in the Manly16s family
by Adam Lucius 25 Nov 21:16 PST
22-23 November 2025
Three generations of Manly Skiff Club royalty were on show as a clutch of emerging young sailors showcased their talent on a hectic weekend of competition.
Manly hosted the Manly Junior state titles across both days of last weekend, with heats four and five of the 13s and 16s club championships sandwiched in between an extremely busy program.
Our volunteers and race committee once again came to the fore, somehow managing dozens of boats, sailors and supporters without missing a beat.
Surnames synonymous with sailing at Manly - Williams, Windust, Cleary, Knapton, Jansen, Cameron, Smith, Harris to name just a few - littered the results sheet as the best sailors in the Manly Junior class went at it over six heats.
And when the spray settled, it was another well-known sailing surname - Thomas - standing on the top step of the podium.
Cousins Baden and Hunter Thomas on Slipstream won the first five heats to claim the NSW Manly Junior title before the sixth and final race was even run.
These two come from pretty decent bloodlines, with brothers Ryan (Baden's dad) and Chris (Hunter's dad) stalwarts of the Manly club and regulars in the 16s fleet.
Keeping it all in the family, Baden's sister Adeline combined with Hunter's younger sibling Sophie onboard Red Hand in the novice division, placing third on handicap overall.
To complete the picture, Hunter's mum Bec is the daughter of Manly Skiff Club life member and sailing great John Munson. A proud Munno watched it all unfold from the skiff club deck as the kids did the business.
"Many of the fathers have sailed Manly Juniors and it's nice that we are now supporting the next generation," Chris Thomas said.
"It's such a great group involved in the Manly Junior class. Everyone is really friendly and supportive and it is a real family-type atmosphere.
"From Hunter's perspective, it's been an excellent start to sailing. He loves sailing with his cousin and is learning so much from him."
And lucky enough to be winning!
The pair took out the state and national double last year, following in Baden's brother's footsteps (Harrison Thomas), who won the two years prior to that. Baden and Hunter are striving to match that feat a year on.
Club commodore Michael Childs was blown away by what he witnessed on and off the water.
He said: "Our junior sailing committee, headed by Tim Lees and Teira Jansen, did an amazing job spreading the club's resources across all the fleets.
"They are so proactive and great to work with and one of the busiest weekends on the club's calendar went off seamlessly as a result.
"It was just so satisfying to see multi generations of sailors and families enjoying the club's facilities and all enjoying and supporting sailing."