Tom's new 18ft Skiff Team for 2026-27
by Frank Quealey 30 Aug 13:39 PDT
Along Shark Island to the wing mark © SailMedia
Lazarus Capital Partners Racing's 7th Season
When the Australian 18 Footers League's 2026-27 Sydney Harbour season gets under way in October one of the new teams with great prospects for the major titles will be the Tom Cunich-led Lazarus Capital Partners, which finished 4th at the 2026 JJ Giltinan World Championship last March.
Tom will be having his fourth season at the helm of the Lazarus Capital Partners Racing Team, but this coming season he will have two new teammates in Logan Radford (sheet) and Jack Taylor (bow).
Tom explains the changes, "Last year, Lazarus had a great season. We had two really good sailors on board, Tim Westwood and Marc Chapon. Unfortunately, Tim has to get surgery on his knee, and Mark has decided to sail on an opposing boat, the Rag."
"Thankfully, we've been able to fill the large void left by Mark and Tim with two additionally very good sailors in Jack and Logan."
Logan Radford, for a young sailor, is already very accomplished. His first signs of success started in the 29er when he teamed up with Joel Beashel and finished in 5th place at the 2023 world 29er championship in the UK.
After graduating from the 29er, he sailed on the SuperMaxi Scallywag with 18ft skiff legend David Witt, then had his first full 18 footer season last year on the Fisher and Paykel skiff, which performed very well throughout the season. Tom and Logan recently sailed together at Lake Garda, and Tom was very impressed with his skills, which led him to now sailing on the Lazarus Capital Partners.
Logan has recently started an internship with Van Munster Boatbuilders, which will see him immerse himself even further into the 18ft skiff fleet and boats; now he is building them.
Jack Taylor was basically born on a sailing boat as he spent time sailing on a catamaran with his parents during the first year of his life. Having been introduced to sailing at a young age, Jack has gone on to achieve success and was a critical part of Nathan McNamara's impressive Smeg team during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
Smeg won a heat of the 2025 JJ Giltinan World Championship and finished 5th overall.
Jack is one of the few sailors in the fleet that seems to be able to sail both the 16-foot and an 18ft skiff during the season while also running his own engineering company, Geochemical Engineering. With so much on a pretty full plate, he still finds time to go to the gym, sail a lot, and generally just enjoy the sport.
Tom will be having his seventh season in the 18s after coming from the 49er class in the 2020-21 season to skipper Vintec, with a rookie team. He spent the following two seasons with the Noakes Youth team, also with young teams, before taking control of the Lazarus racing program at the beginning of the 2023-24 season.
Some gear problems at critical times prevented Tom's teams from achieving the consistency needed to get better results at the 2024 and 2025 Giltinan world championships, but with better fortune in 2026 this all changed. Two race wins and one 2nd placing from the nine races enabled Lazarus Capital Partners to finish in fourth place overall.
Lazarus defeated the 2026 champion Yandoo team in one of the race victories and finished just 9secs behind the same regatta-winning team in another race.
Tom is now looking forward to the 2026-27 season. "We've gone for a few training sessions in preparation for the season, and the boat is going really well and the team is gelling, which is very pleasing to see.
"Last year, Tim, Marc and I felt like we were really pushing at the front of the fleet, and we'd like to continue doing so with Jack and Logan this year. It's something that I'm fully confident that the new team can continue to do and continue to carry on Lazarus' reputation as a fast boat."
Adding, "Jack, Logan, and I feel lucky to be able to sail on the Lazarus this season. It's a great boat with a great sponsor who is very supportive."
The Lazarus Capital Partners journey with the iconic 18 footers also began in the 2020-21 season when it sponsored a young team, skippered by Lachlan Steel, having its rookie season in the class.
Marcus Ashley-Jones led more experienced teams over the next two seasons and finished 5th and 7th in the 2022 and 2023 Giltinan World championships, and gave the sponsor its greatest result with a victory in the 2022 Mark Foy Trophy on Lake Garda, Italy.
Lazarus Capital Partners' Managing Director, Dale Klynhout recalls those earlier days, "Since our inaugural 2020 start, when Lazarus initially sponsored a young newcomer team whilst Lazarus was also in its infancy as a capital markets trading desk."
"This led to having two skiffs in 2021, and Lazarus wanting to contribute further to the 18 footers given it's an iconic Sydney Harbour institution."
"In 2022 Lazarus, under skipper Marcus Ashley Jones, won the 2022 Mark Foy Trophy in Italy. Now a couple of years under the stewardship of Tom Cunich when the 2025-26 crew produced a strong campaign to finish fourth at the JJ Giltinan championship."
Speaking about Lazarus' involvement with the Australian 18 Footers League, Dale Klynhout added, "We're very pleased to be continuing with the 18 Footers for another season. What started as a sponsorship has developed into a relationship that is genuinely important to Lazarus and its stakeholders."
"We have a real appreciation for what makes the 18s special. It is an incredibly competitive sport, but it is also a community with a remarkable history on Sydney Harbour. We're proud that Lazarus has been able to play a small part in that history and to continue supporting the League and the sailors who make the racing so compelling."
"For us, the attraction hasn't diminished. If anything, the longer we are involved, the more we appreciate the combination of performance, teamwork, preparation and resilience that the 18-footers demand. Those are qualities that resonate strongly with our own culture at Lazarus."
Tom's hard-racing style and ability in all types of wind strength, along with an exciting, new young team, Lazarus Capital Partners will almost certainly be in contention at the major championships in 2026-27.