GC Sails 18ft Skiff Team - A new Queensland team on the move
by Frank Quealey 10 Jan 23:22 PST
17-19 January 2026
Spinnaker run for the top three Queensland boats © Brisbane 18s
A good quality three-boat team from Queensland will represent the Brisbane 18ft Sailing Club when the fleet lines up on Sydney Harbour from Saturday, 17 January at the 2025-26 Australian 18ft skiff Championship, following a move by a former Victorian team to the northern state.
For the past two years, brothers Scott and David Cunningham have competed at the 2024 and 2025 Giltinan World 18ft skiff championship regattas on Sydney Harbour where they represented the State of Victoria in their Team Vic skiff, along with Brody Riley, the third member of the team.
In an ageing hull, and with no new sails, not unusual for a rookie team with absolutely no previous experience in the 18s and no racing prior to the 2024 regatta, the crew sailed better than expected by locals on the tricky harbour courses, and the two regattas netted results of 16th of 27 boats and 19th of 28, respectively.
Both fleets were very closely competitive and the results suggested the team was on a forward move towards the top, so it came as a surprise when skipper Scott Cunningham announced that the team had changed, a new sponsor had come on board, and the operation had moved to Brisbane and would be representing Queensland at the Australian Championship (17-19 January) and the Giltinan World Championship (7-15 March).
The team has the hull, which formerly raced as C-Tech, which will now race as GC Sails for the season and at all major championships.
According to Scott Cunningham, "This year is the beginning of a collaboration between the Victorian team and the Brisbane 18ft Sailing Club. It's a proposal we worked on over the off season which was endorsed by the club and opened a door for my brother and I to step up our campaign with the Queensland teams."
Checking with Scott on the early stages of the move, "We're fortunate to have Joel Turner join our team as he brings a depth of knowledge and skill that has been a real asset for us."
Joel Turner joining the team is a double bonus. He not only has an impressive competitor bio, along with his business partner Caedric Reader of GC Sails, is also the team's sponsor. "We are really excited to have an affiliation with the 18ft skiffs in Australia and specifically the Brisbane 18s. The 18s have a remarkable history on Sydney Harbour but there is no reason why it can't be more prominent in Queensland."
"The club in Brisbane has been very welcoming and showed a lot of commitment to growing the fleet, which we think is exciting to see. As a skiff sailor myself, it is particularly interesting sailing the boats and looking at how to develop the sail wardrobe. It's rare to spend a fair bit of time sailing on the boat that you build the sails for, which makes for a great opportunity for our own learning as well."
The team's other supporters include Ronstan, for their technical sponsorship of the campaign, and Vaikobi for their sponsorship support for the team.
"The Queensland teams have been training and pushing each other in Brisbane to build the whole squads level up, which was shown off recently at the Queensland State Championships. The racing was tight and keenly contested, which is a great sign of things to come for Queensland 18s."
Big Foot Bags and Covers (Dave Hayter) won the Queensland title with a score of 11 points from race results of: 2,3,2,1,1,2. GC Sails finished a close runner-up on 12 points from race results of:1,1,1,3,2,4 and Brisbane 18s (Josh Sloman) in third place on 19 points from race results of: 3,2,3,2,3,6.
The Queensland 3-boat challenge for next weekend's nationals is a great credit to the excellent work of Dave Hayer since he first joined the 18 footer class from International 14s.
During the period, Dave has taken the class forward year-by-year with the support of the Brisbane 18 footers club. His efforts have introduced very good young sailors with the right attitude and work ethic required in the 18s, and has introduced two brand new Van Munster-built hulls to race alongside the existing hulls.
His efforts are reflected in the quality of the three teams selected to contest the 2025-26 Nationals:
- Big Foot Bags and Covers Dave Hayter, Trent Neighbour, Elliott Mahar
- GC Sails Scott Cunningham, Joel Turner, Dave Cunningham
- Brisbane 18s Josh Sloman, Ben Roxburgh, Angus Barker
Scott Cunningham started his career in B14's and finished 2nd at two world titles and won a Youth world title. He also won one and finished 2nd on four occasions. He moved into the I14's and has spent ten years where he has competed against his 2025-26 Queensland team mate, Dave Hayter. His best result being a 4th in Weymouth, England.
Joel Turner says he "began skiff sailing in the 29er for a few years as the pathway to the Olympic journey." He campaigned the 49er skiff for 11 years with the Australian Sailing team and did two seasons of the Blue Water Racing aboard URM Maxi 72 before he "Decided to finally join the real world and begin sail-making with GC Sails."
Other significant crew changes within the three-boat challenging squad include Dave Hayter's former International 14 champion team mate Trent Neighbour joining Dave's Big Foot Bags and Covers 18, and Ben Roxburgh's move from Big Foot to Josh Sloman's Brisbane 18s.
The moves continue the strengthening of the Queensland fleet and a positive step towards the overall strength of the 18ft skiffs in Australia.
According to the host club for the 2025-26 Australian Championship, the Australian 18 Footers League, "Teams from Queensland, Victoria, and Germany will line up alongside our strong NSW fleet, bringing together the best 18 Footer sailors in the country and beyond. Don't miss a moment. We'll be running a spectator ferry service each day, putting you right in the heart of the action on the Harbour. With two races per day, there's guaranteed close racing and plenty of drama."
Of course, the highly professional SailMedia live stream video coverage will be on the course each day with expert commentary to keep all viewers up-to-the-minute with everything that is happening within the fleet.
Race Dates:
Day One - Saturday, 17 January 2026
Day Two - Sunday, 18 January 2026
Day Three - Monday, 19 January 2026