18ft Skiff Club Championship Race 1 and SIXT Spring Championship Race 2
by Frank Quealey 18 Oct 01:04 PDT
18 October 2026
Race 1 of the eleven-race Australian 18 Footers League's Club Championship was sailed in a light Easterly breeze over a three-lap windward-leeward course on Sydney Harbour today and resulted in another great victory for the highly-skilled team of John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake on the beautifully rigged world champion Yandoo.
At the end of the three laps, Yandoo crossed the finish line 1m42s ahead of Smeg (Ash Rooklyn, Ricky Bridge and Tom Quigley), which outlasted a group of strong challengers. Third place went to a fast finishing Australian champion Balmain (Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Locky Pryor) which finished just 11s behind Smeg.
Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Adam Beashel) finished in fourth place ahead of Killer Coffee Co (Ryan Ewings) and Rag & Famish Hotel (Ben Crafoord).
Race 2 of the SIXT Spring Championship and Race 2 of the Mondiale VGL Season Point Score was sailed in conjunction with the club championship race and resulted in a win for the Club Marine team (Emma Rankin, Cameron Walker and Daniel Watson) from Smeg and Killer Coffee Co.
After the two races so far this season, the leading points in both the Sixt Spring and Mondiale VGL series are, Lazarus Capital Partners on 9 points, followed by Club Marine, Rag & Famish Hotel and The Kitchen Maker (Jordan Girdis) all on 11 points and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers on 12 points.
Three more teams, Balmain, Killer Coffee Co and Yandoo are equal on 14 points, while Smeg on 17 and Sothebys-Ballard Property (Lachlan Steel) on 18 round out the top 10.
Despite the lack of breeze the race held a lot of interest for spectators as the racing was close and positions changed regularly, particularly over the first two laps of the course.
Rag & Famish Hotel was prominent with Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich), Smeg and Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York) at the pin end of the line while Yandoo began her race near the starter's boat end.
Soon after the start, Rag & Famish tacked and quickly established a clear lead over a closely bunched fleet as the fleet approached the weather mark.
Yandoo worked her way into second place, 30s behind The Rag, closely followed by Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, Smeg, Balmain, Killer Coffee, Lazarus and Vaikobi.
Once spinnaker were set for the run back to the bottom mark, Yandoo quickly reduced the Rag & Famish lead. It was a powerful display in the light air and the Yandoo team finally grabbed the lead shortly after both teams gybed.
The spinnaker run was exciting for spectators with the fleet spread out across the harbour as skippers were looking for the best breeze.
At the bottom mark Yandoo held a small lead, 4s, over the new Killer Coffee Co team which put in a brilliant run to come from 6th place at the weather mark. Lazarus and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers went to the other rounding mark, while Rag & Famish, Balmain and Smeg chose the same one as the leader.
On the second beat, Yandoo went to the LHS of the course while Lazarus and Killer Coffee went to the right, but precision sailing by the Yandoo team made any challenge almost impossible as her lead stretched out to 46s before spinnakers were set again for the following run back to the bottom mark.
There was a great battle for the minor placings going on between six evenly-matched teams and it was the Smeg team which came out on top after an extremely good windward leg. Thurlow Fisher was in third place, closely followed by Killer Coffee, Rag & Famish, Balmain and Lazarus.
Yandoo's lead was extended to 1m8s at the bottom mark on the second lap and the team, with a strong grip on the race, seemed intent on covering the challengers over the final lap of the course.
The three-time world champion Yandoo combination is in a class of its own at the moment, but there is so much talent in new teams and with close, competitive racing similar to what we saw today, they are certain to begin to put more pressure on the great Yandoo as we move ahead towards the Giltinan World Championship in March.
Race 3 of the SIXT Spring Championship and the Mondiale VGL Season Point Score will be sailed next Sunday. As usual SailMedia will provide a livestream coverage of the racing with expert comments by the team broadcast direct from the race course.
18ft Skiff Club Championship Race 1 and SIXT Spring Championship Race 2 Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Finish | Elapsed | Handicap | Corrected | Corrected Pos |
|---|
| 1 | YANDOO
(JOHN WINNING Jr. / FANG WARREN / LEWIS BRAKE) | 15:51:01 | 01:06:01 | 0 | 01:06:01 | 13 |
| 2 | SMEG
(ASH ROOKLYN / RICKY BRIDGE / TOM QUIGLEY) | 15:52:43 | 01:07:43 | 6 | 01:01:43 | 2 |
| 3 | Balmain
(HENRY LARKINGS / TOM GRIMES / LOCKY PRYOR) | 15:52:54 | 01:07:54 | 3 | 01:04:54 | 9 |
| 4 | THURLOW FISHER LAWYERS
(ADAM BEASHEL / SHAUN CONNOR / TRENT BARNABAS) | 15:53:27 | 01:08:27 | 3 | 01:05:27 | 10 |
| 5 | KILLER COFFEE CO
(RYAN EWINGS / MATT STENTA / FINN RODOWICZ) | 15:53:58 | 01:08:58 | 6 | 01:02:58 | 3 |
| 6 | RAG & FAMISH HOTEL
(BEN CRAFOORD / SEVE JARVIN / MAX NEARN) | 15:54:11 | 01:09:11 | 6 | 01:03:11 | 4 |
| 7 | SHAW AND PARTNERS
(KEAGAN YORK / PETE NICHOLSON / JEROME WATTS) | 15:54:41 | 01:09:41 | 3 | 01:06:41 | 15 |
| 8 | CLUB MARINE
(EMMA RANKIN / CAMERON WALKER / DANIEL WATSON) | 15:55:19 | 01:10:19 | 9 | 01:01:19 | 1 |
| 9 | LAZARUS
(TOM CUNICH / LOGAN RADFORD / JACK TAYLOR) | 15:55:34 | 01:10:34 | 7 | 01:03:34 | 5 |
| 10 | VAIKOBI
(KIRK MITCHELL / MAX VOS / PADDY BANNON) | 15:55:37 | 01:10:37 | 5 | 01:05:37 | 11 |
| 11 | SIXT
(JACOB MARKS / ALEX MARINELLI / ORLANDO SABLIK) | 15:55:39 | 01:10:39 | 7 | 01:03:39 | 7 |
| 12 | THE KITCHEN MAKER
(JORDAN GIRDIS / JOSH FELDMANN / JACOB BROOM) | 15:55:47 | 01:10:47 | 7 | 01:03:47 | 8 |
| 13 | SOTHEBYS
(LACHLAN STEEL / GEORGE MORTON / HAMISH VASS) | 15:56:36 | 01:11:36 | 8 | 01:03:36 | 6 |
| 14 | FISHER & PAYKEL
(HUGO STONER / JULIAN TAYLOR / HUGO LEEMING) | 16:00:14 | 01:15:14 | 9 | 01:06:14 | 14 |
| 15 | THE OAK DOUBLE BAY‑4 PINES
(KADE MORGAN / GRAEME FAIRBAIRN / ISAAC ROBBINS) | 16:00:37 | 01:15:37 | 10 | 01:05:37 | 11 |
| 16 | 18 FOOTERS BAR & REST.
(LUCA GAMBACORTI / / ) | 16:03:34 | 01:18:34 | 10 | 01:08:34 | 16 |
| 17 | OCIUS
(DANTE OLIVIERI / JAMES HODGSON / NICK ROZENAUERS) | 16:04:29 | 01:19:29 | 10 | 01:09:29 | 17 |
