2025-26 Australian 18ft skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour - Overall
by Frank Quealey 18 Jan 23:08 PST
17-19 January 2026
Ferry Patrons Trophy
The Balmain team of Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Lachlan Pryor became the 2025-26 Australian 18ft skiff champions following another sensational day's racing in constantly changing conditions on Sydney Harbour today.
The fleet went into the final day with a number of top contenders for the title carrying scores they hoped to discard while others were more consistent and had better scores before the final two races.
It was hard to predict what may happen and the end result came down to the final run of the last race and a count back to decide the title.
Throughout the day, wind conditions made things even more difficult for all teams as they battled very light winds in both races over the two-lap windward-leeward courses.
Going into the final race, allowing for the leading teams' discards, Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York) had a guaranteed 14 points score, regardless of where the team would finish in the race.
Brisbane's GC Sails (Scott Cunningham) had a net 11 points, Yandoo (Micah Lane) 12, Balmain 13, Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich) 15 and Germany's Black Knight (Heinrich Von Bayern) was on 16 points net.
When Yandoo led narrowly from Brisbane's Big Foot Bags and Covers (Dave Hayter) at the final weather mark and had only a spinnaker run to the finish, the current Giltinan world champion looked a certain winner of the title, but another brilliant finishing burst by the young Balmain team, grabbed a narrow lead and victory which changed everything.
The race win gave Balmain a total of 14 points, equal to Shaw and Partners, but Balmain took the championship title on count back with the last race victory.
After each team discarded its worst performance from the five-race regatta, the final points table had Balmain on 14 points, followed by Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York, Matt Stenta and Tom Anderson) also on 14points, and Yandoo (Micah Lane, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake) on 15 points.
Lazarus Capital Partners and GC Sails finished next on 17, Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell) on 25, Black Knight on 26, Brisbane 18 Footers (Josh Sloman) on 30, Big Foot Bags and Covers on 32 points and Sixt (Jacob Marks) and Fisher & Paykel (Brett Van Munster) on 35 points.
In today's first race, Club Marine (Emma Rankin, Brandon Buyink and Jed Cruikshank) defeated Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich, Marc Chapon and Tim Westwood) by 17s with Balmain just 2s further back in third place
The latter race resulted in Balmain's win by 8s from Lazarus, with Yandoo another 5s back in third place.
Club Marine's victory in the first of the races was another historical moment as her skipper, Emma Rankin became the first female skipper to win a race in an Australian 18ft skiff championship.
The racing over the three days was as close as the final point scores suggest. There were several lead changes, close finishes and some excellent performances by the Brisbane and German teams in very demanding conditions, which dominated the three days racing.
With strong New Zealand teams expected to join the NSW, Queensland and European teams that competed this week, the upcoming Giltinan world Championship on Sydney Harbour in March should be one of the closest for many years.
Australian 18 Footers League club racing resumes next Sunday (25 January) when the club will conduct a 3-buoys race for the President's Trophy. The club's spectator ferry will follow the racing and SailMedia will livestream all the action with an expert commentary team on the course to provide information for viewers.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Balmain (Henry Larkings / Tom Grimes / Lachlan Pryor) | 3 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| 2 | Shaw and Partners (Keagan York / Matthew Stenta / Tom Anderson) | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 14 |
| 3 | Yandoo (Micah Lane / Fang Warren / Lewis Brake) | 1 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | Lazarus (Tom Cunich / Marc Chapon / Tim Westwood) | 6 | 7 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| 5 | GC Sails (Scott Cunningham / Joel Turner / David Cunningham) | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 17 |
| 6 | Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchel / Andrew Stephenson / Daniel Barnett) | 21 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 25 |
| 7 | Black Knight (Heinrich von Bayern / Tom Martin / Andy Martin) | 21 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 10 | 26 |
| 8 | Brisbane Eighteen Footers Sailing Club (Josh Sloman / Ben Roxburgh / Angus Barker) | 8 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 4 | 30 |
| 9 | Big Foot Bags and Covers (David Hayter / Trent Neighbour / Elliott Mahar) | 11 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 5 | 32 |
| 10 | Sixt (Jacob Marks / Alex Marinelli / Matt Doyle) | 21 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 35 |
| 11 | Fisher and Paykel (Brett Van Munster / Tom Quigley / Logan Radford) | 5 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 35 |
| 12 | Club Marine (Emma Rankin / Brandon Buyink / Jed Cruikshank) | 12 | 14 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 36 |
| 13 | The Royal Oak (Hugo Stoner / Jerome Watts / Daniel Watson) | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 40 |
| 14 | Rag & Famish (Ben Crafoord / Ryan Ewings / Max Nearn) | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 42 |
| 15 | The Killer Coffee Co (Cam Macdonald / Max Voss / Nick Rozenauers) | 13 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 14 | 46 |
| 16 | Smeg (Ash Rooklyn / Niall Morrow / Mike McKensey) | 7 | 20 | 13 | 18 | 12 | 50 |
| 17 | The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel / Nathan Gulliksen / Hamish Vass) | 14 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 57 |
| 18 | Sothebys Ballard Properties (Bec Hancock / Cam Walker / Ed Swain) | 14 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 61 |
| 19 | Gotcha4Life (Kade Morgan / Graeme Fairbairn / Isaac Marney) | 14 | 17 | 12 | 19 | 19 | 62 |
| 20 | 18 Footers B&R Racing Team (Luca Gambacorti / Nic Livermore / Max Herscovics) | 14 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 65 |
