18ft Skiff Club Championship Race 14 and Season Point Score Race 20 on Sydney Harbour
by Frank Quealey 22 Feb 00:50 PST
22 February 2026
Race day partner: Ballard Property-Sotheby's
The Yandoo team of John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake formalised their victory in the Australian 18 Footers League's Club Championship for 2025-26 season with another masterly display in Race 14 (the final race), which was sailed in a 10-15 knots North East breeze on Sydney Harbour today.
The League's other major season championship, the Season Point Score was won convincingly by the Sixt team of Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli and Matt Doyle, which finished with a winning margin of 18 points over the nearest challenger in the fleet.
Yandoo led for almost the entire three-lap NE course to defeat the Australian champion Balmain team (Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Lachlan Pryor) by 1m21s, with Vaikobi (Kirk Mitcxhell, Andrew Stephenson and Daniel Barnett) a further 1m0s back in third place.
Germany's Black Knight (Heinrich von Bayern) finished in fourth place ahead of Smeg (Ash Rooklyn) and Brisbane's GC Sails (Scott Cunningham).
Yandoo finished the Club Championship with a total of 29 points, followed by Balmain on 59, Rag & Famish Hotel (Ben Crafoord) on 76, Sixt on 91, Vaikobi on 92 and Smeg on 87 points.
The final points in the League's Season Point Score: Sixt finished on 157 points, ahead of Club Marine (Emma Rankin) on 175, with Balmain and Vaikobi level on 182 and Rag & Famish Hotel on 197.
After an even start in 10-11 knots of breeze, Balmain led narrowly once the fleet settled. Yandoo was in second place and there was a tense battle between Black Knight, Vaikobi, Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York) and Smeg for the next four placings as the fleet headed to the weather mark at the Beashel Buoy.
The powerful Yandoo team quickly settled into gear and grabbed the lead from Balmain before holding a 9s lead at the mark. Vaikobi was another 21s back in third place just ahead of Black Knight, Shaw and Partners, Smeg and Lazarus, which made a strong recovery after being recalled at the start.
A large fleet of Optimsts in the Rose Bay area was a challenge for the 18s as they sped downwind under the big #1 spinnakers to the wing mark off the southern end of Shark Island and again it was the experience of the Yandoo team that performed best as they extended their lead over Balmain to 35s and headed for the bottom mark off Clark Island to complete the first lap of the course.
While it was already looking much like a Yandoo victory, the race for the podium placings was close and exciting as there was only a few seconds separating Balmain, Shaw and Partners, Vakobi and Black Knight as the four teams set off for the second beat to Beashel.
GC Sails and Rag & Famish headed the next group which included Brisbane's Big Foot Bags & Covers (Dave Hayter), Lazarus and Sixt.
The breeze freshened on the second beat and the battle for second got even closer. Shaw and Partners edged ahead of Balmain before Balmain came back on the next cross to regain the placing.
Meanwhile, Yandoo's crew was revelling in the slightly stronger breeze and increased the leading margin, over Balmain, to 48s as spinnakers were set for the run back down the middle of the course to Clark Island. Shaw and Partners, Black Knight and Vaikobi continued their close battle ahead of Smeg, GC Sails and Big Foot Bags & Covers.
Shaw and Partners was showing good form and challenging Balmain but capsized in a gybe, leaving Balmain more secure in second place, now 49s behind the leader.
With victory well in sight for the current Giltinan World champion Yandoo team, the crew were more than happy to keep a loose cover on their major challenger over the final triangle lap of the course then put on a spectacular spinnaker run to the finish off Double Bay.
As a final hit-out for the upcoming 2026 JJ Giltinan World Championship, Yandoo has definitely set the benchmark and will go into the JJs regatta as favourite to retain the title, but it won't be easy as the 9-race regatta includes four short course races which can be unpredictable, especially in light winds.
The challengers from Germany, New Zealand and Queensland, as well as several top contenders from the League's fleet will put the defending champions to the test and we should see one of the closest championships in recent history.
The Australian 18 Footers League will have no race next Sunday (March 1) as SailGP will have full use of Sydney Harbour. Racing will resume on Friday, March 6 when the club will conduct the Invitation Race for the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by the Winning Group. The usual spectator ferry will NOT follow the Invitation race, however it will follow every race in the Championship, beginning on March 7. SailMedia will live stream the action from ALL RACES with expert commentary from the course.
Race dates for the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by the Winning Group:
Friday March 6, 2026 Invitation Race
Saturday March 7, 2026 Race 1, George Calligeros Trophy
Sunday March 8, 2026 Race 2, Cliff Monkhouse Memorial Trophy
Tuesday March 10, 2026 Races 3 & 4, Alan Cole Memorial Trophy
Wednesday March 11, 2026 Races 5 & 6, A. J. Reynolds Trophy
Thursday March 12, 2026 Race 7, Bill Miller Memorial Trophy
Saturday March 14, 2026 Race 8, Bill Kite Memorial Trophy
Sunday March 15, 2026 Race 9, Ribbon and J. J. Giltinan Trophy
Results of final race:
| Pos | Boat (team) | Finish | Elapsed | Handicap | Corrected | Position |
|---|
| 1 | Yandoo (Herman Winning
| 15:59:18 | 01:14:18 | 0 | 01:14:18 | 6 |
| 2 | Balmain (Henry Larkings
| 16:00:39 | 01:15:39 | 0 | 01:15:39 | 10 |
| 3 | Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchel
| 16:01:39 | 01:16:39 | 5 | 01:11:39 | 1 |
| 4 | Black Knight (Heinrich von Bayern
| 16:02:02 | 01:17:02 | 2 | 01:15:02 | 8 |
| 5 | Smeg (Ash Rooklyn
| 16:02:43 | 01:17:43 | 5 | 01:12:43 | 2 |
| 6 | GC Sails (Scott Cunningham
| 16:03:44 | 01:18:44 | 0 | 01:18:44 | 16 |
| 7 | Lazarus (Tom Cunich
| 16:03:59 | 01:18:59 | 4 | 01:14:59 | 7 |
| 8 | Shaw and Partners (Keagan York
| 16:04:18 | 01:19:18 | 3 | 01:16:18 | 12 |
| 9 | Sixt (Jacob Marks
| 16:05:13 | 01:20:13 | 6 | 01:14:13 | 5 |
| 10 | Rag & Famish (Ben Crafoord
| 16:05:18 | 01:20:18 | 3 | 01:17:18 | 15 |
| 11 | The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel
| 16:06:05 | 01:21:05 | 5 | 01:16:05 | 11 |
| 12 | Club Marine (Emma Rankin
| 16:06:32 | 01:21:32 | 6 | 01:15:32 | 9 |
| 13 | Big Foot Bags and Covers (David Hayter
| 16:07:14 | 01:22:14 | 0 | 01:22:14 | 17 |
| 14 | The Killer Coffee Co (Jordan Girdis
| 16:07:20 | 01:22:20 | 9 | 01:13:20 | 3 |
| 15 | The Royal Oak (Hugo Stoner
| 16:07:25 | 01:22:25 | 6 | 01:16:25 | 13 |
| 16 | Gotcha4Life (Kade Morgan
| 16:09:08 | 01:24:08 | 10 | 01:14:08 | 4 |
| 17 | Sothebys Ballard Properties (Bec Hancock
| 16:10:26 | 01:25:26 | 9 | 01:16:26 | 14 |
| DNF | Fisher and Paykel (Brett Van Munster
| | | | | |
| DNF | Berlin Bears (Phillipp Nocke
| | | | | |
| DNF | 18 Footers B&R Racing Team (Luca Gambacorti
| | | | | |
| DNF | Propinquity (Simon Nearn
| | | | | |