Please select your home edition
Edition
Vaikobi Custom Teamwear

JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship 2026 presented by The Winning Group - Lay day 2

by Frank Quealey 13 Mar 01:29 PDT 6-15 March 2026

While the defending champion Yandoo team (John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake) is in a strong position on the scoreboard to retain the title, the final two races of the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by The Winning Group, on Sydney Harbour this weekend, the Shaw and Partners Financial Services-Australia team (Keagan York, Max Paul and Tom Anderson) is still close enough to keep Yandoo's crew on their toes.

There was a similar situation in the 2025 series when Yandoo held a lead going into the final race but had to sweat it out when Keagan York's Finport Finance almost grabbed a victory in extremely light winds on the final day. Keagan is now the skipper of Shaw and Partners; can he reverse last year's result?

The final position on the podium could also be "up for grabs" if Queensland's GC Sails (Scott Cunningham, Joel Turner and Dave Cunningham) don't put two good results together as there are seven teams, separated by just 8 points waiting to fill the vacant position.

Regardless of what may happen, the 27-boat fleet representing six countries will provide plenty of action and exciting racing over the long, traditional-style harbour courses.

The two remaining races are:
Saturday March 14, 2026 Race 8, Bill Kite Memorial Trophy
Sunday March 15, 2026 Race 9, Ribbon and JJ Giltinan Trophy

The Host Club, Australian 18 Footers League's spectator ferry will follow both races and ferry tickets can be purchased online.

SailMedia will livestream all the action from the course, along with expert commentary and viewing of the coverage of Race 8 will be available on youtube.com/video/vZeu7nCTdOU/livestreaming

Race 8, along with coverage of all previous racing, can be viewed on www.youtube.com/@18footersTV/streams

Results after race 7:

PosTeam (Crew)R1R2R3R4R5R6R7Pts
1Yandoo (Herman Winning, Fang Warren, Lewis Brake)11722118
2Shaw and Partners AUS (Keagan York, Max Paul, Tom Anderson)245175219
3GC Sails (Scott Cunningham, Joel Turner, David Cunningham)7213388634
4Black Knight (Heinrich von Bayern, Tom Martin, Andy Martin)111085312441
5Shaw and Partners NZL (Eli Liefting, Sam Street, Josh Schon)52849914344
6Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchel, Andrew Stephenson, Daniel Barnett)1032061131245
7Sixt (Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli, Matt Doyle)217121056545
8Lazarus (Thomas Cunich, Marc Chapon, Tim Westwood)928613121445
9Smeg (Ash Rooklyn, Josh Porebski, Niall Morrow)121414147947
10ASCC (Campbell Stanton, Ollie Gilmour, Pat Morgan)195384231049
11Balmain (Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes, Lachlan Pryor)8911286131158
12The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel, George Morton, Jerome Watts)6282161810759
13Rag & Famish (Ben Crafoord, Ryan Ewings, Max Nearn)3691215152460
14Big Foot Bags and Covers (David Hayter, Trent Neighbour, Elliott Mahar)1881771041964
15Fisher and Paykel (Brett Van Munster, Tom Quigley, Logan Radford)41314282291375
16Brisbane 18 Footers Sailing Club (Joshua Sloman, Ben Roxburgh, Angus Barker)141515111316876
17Club Marine (Emma Rankin, Jed Cruikshank, Brandon Buyink)2212101917171792
18Andoo USA (Michael Radziejowski, David Liebenberg, Daniel Roberts)1316282812111595
19The Killer Coffee Co (Jordan Girdis, Max Vos, Nick Rozenauers)2311211416191697
20The Royal Oak (Hugo Stoner, Zann Scrimgeour, Daniel Watson)15281818201820109
21Bar Karate UK (lan Turnball, Harvey Hilary, Stuart Keegan)20201615192226112
22Berlin Bears (Phillipp Nocke, Marceli Mierzw, Max Seydl)16172217212825118
23Ballard Properties (Bec Hancock, Cam Walker, Ed Swain)25181920252121124
24Badnavn The Vikings (Jesper Brondum, Darren McKavanagh, Uffe Andersen)17282622232522135
25Akarana Eatery (Monty Alderson, Levi Jenkins, Harry Wilson)27212421242423137
26Gotcha4Life (Kade Morgan, Graeme Fairbairn, Isaac Marney)26282523262018138
2718 Footers B&R Racing Team (Luca Gambacorti, Nic Livermore, Max Herscovics)24192328282727148

Related Articles

USA 18ft Skiff Challenge - a brief history
2026 saw first US competitor at JJ Giltinan World Championship since 2019 The participation of Mikey Radziejowski, David Liebenberg and Daniel Roberts at the 2026 JJ Giltinan Championship marked the return of a USA competitor at the championship for the first time since Katie Love skippered Panasonic Lumix in 2019. Posted on 10 Apr
Vaikobi - THE choice of champions and pundits
No puppies were harmed in the creation of this show. Watch the show now to see what we mean... If you're not smiling and laughing when you spend time with Pat Langley, then you're simply not there. You're elsewhere... Posted on 30 Mar
German 18ft Skiff Record Breaker
Black Knight sets JJ Giltinan Record Last Sunday's 15-18 knot North East wind was perfect racing conditions for 18ft skiff racing on Sydney Harbour and ideal for an historic day when Black Knight became the first skiff from Germany to win a race in the 88-year-old history of the event. Posted on 19 Mar
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Worlds 2026 Race 9
German team win their first race in a JJ Giltinan championship regatta The Yandoo team had already won the 2026 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship after yesterday's race, but officially took out the title for the third consecutive time at the conclusion of today's Race 9 on Sydney Harbour. Posted on 15 Mar
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Worlds 2026 Race 8
The Yandoo team of John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake have already won The Yandoo team of John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake became the world 18ft Skiff champions on Sydney Harbour today despite only managing to finish in seventh position in Race 8. Posted on 14 Mar
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Worlds 2026 Races 6 & 7
Two more outstanding performances by the brilliant Yandoo crew Two more outstanding performances by the brilliant Yandoo crew of John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake, on Sydney Harbour today, has given the defending champion team an almost unbeatable lead in the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship. Posted on 12 Mar
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Worlds 2026 Races 4 & 5
A perfect North East breeze replaces the light wind conditions Day 4 was a far better day for the 27-boat fleet when a perfect North East breeze, on Sydney Harbour today, replaced the extremely light conditions which forced the postponement of one race on Day 3 of the championship. Posted on 11 Mar
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Worlds 2026 Race 3
Lack of wind for the Alan Cole Memorial Trophy Day 3 of the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship was a frustrating one for all teams, officials and spectators as a lack of wind reduced the planned racing from two races to just a single two-lap windward-leeward Race 3. Posted on 10 Mar
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Worlds 2026 lay day
Races 3 and 4 are predicted to have less dramatic conditions than Race 2 Race 2 of the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship was a wild day with incredible conditions ranging from a start in 20-plus knots of Southerly wind to finishing in blindingly heavy rain and no wind for the winner, Yandoo. Posted on 9 Mar
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Worlds 2026 Race 2
Totally opposite conditions to the opening race but the result was the same Race 2 produced conditions totally opposite to those of the opening race but the result was the same as the outstanding defending champion Yandoo team took the honours with another display of brilliant crew work on Sydney Harbour today. Posted on 8 Mar
V-DRY-XVaikobi Custom Teamwear