18 Foot Skiff - 2006 JJ Giltinan Trophy

Sydney, February, 18 Foot Skiff, Hell Yea!!

Report | 1 | 2 | 3 |

There will be daily updates / Photos from Sydney posted on sailinganarchy.com from Graeme Oliver, Bowman on Team SELS / Sailing Anarchy.

Picking out teams to dominate the JJ’s has always been a tough task, made even harder this year with an influx of fast visitors to Sydney, but here goes ………

European Teams

Of the European teams there are 6 boats competing in Sydney, 5 from the UK and one from France. There is a notable absentee from the European contingent this year with RMW Marine (2nd, 1st, 3rd last three years) not on the boat to Sydney; Rob Greenhalgh is off playing with some VOR 70 thing. However, there is a container en-route; in the box are three of the fastest in Europe.

Barron and Smithers
Pete Barton, Martin Borret, Ian Turnbull
Pete Barton’s team won the Euro tour last year and have shown good pace all year. On their day can beat anyone and with a well practiced crew should be on the pace.

Radii
Andy Richards, Andy Fairley, Dave Richards
Andy Richards and crew followed up a fine 2nd at the Europeans with a win at the UK Nationals / Eurocup event. Lack of time meant that they couldn’t do the whole Eurocup but will be expected to be in the leading pack in the harbour.

SELS / Sailing Anarchy
Ed Browne, Mark Tait, Graeme Oliver
 A new name and bowman for Ed Browne’s team, they have been showing great form of late with a win in the UK Weymouth event and a second in the UK Nationals / Eurocup despite a minor crash on the first day (Broke both wings!!). A bit of an unknown quantity at the moment but should be on the pace.

US Teams

Pegasus White
 Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin, Trent Barnabas
 Howie Hamlin’s team are well known in the sailing world for their fantastic ability to win big regattas, now with Phillipe Khan’s backing they are a formidable force. With wins in both San Francisco and Sardinia last year, they will be one of the front-runners in Sydney. Having won in 2002 and 2003, they really know the harbour!

Aussie Teams

Asko Appliances
 Hugh Stodart, Niall Kinch, Paul Schulz
 Runners up in 2005 Giltinan-losing only in the closing stages of the final race.  They have been in great form this season with spectacular race performances in the current Australian Championships.  They lead the series with 3 wins and 1 third place in the 4 races sailed so far.

Casio Seapathfinder
 Michael Coxon, Aaron Links, Nathan Ellis
 One of Australia’s best performers over the past 3 seasons and current NSW champions.  They are presently defending their Australian Championship (winners in 2004 and 2005) crown although only placed fourth at the moment.

Club Marine
 Euan McNicol, Tim Austin, Seve Jarvin
 Defending Giltinan champions.  This team had their first season together in 2005 when they won the title and Euan was having his first season as skipper, although he crewed with John Winning to win in 2000.  They are in the top 3-4 teams again this season and are very quick in certain conditions.

Rag & Famish Hotel
 John Harris, Craig Ferris, Chris Cleary
 Very experienced team who previously won in 2001.  They were runners up also in 1998 & 2002.  They are also past Australian and NSW champions and were runner up to Casio in this season’s NSW championship.

02/18/06 Top

Return of the King
18 Foot Skiff JJ Giltinan Heat 1

Another of a continuing series from the 18 Worlds courtesy of Graeme Oliver. Pics by Christophe Favreau.

Today's heat saw the return to form of last years' winners, Club Marine with Euan McNichol on the stick. After a mediocre start hey picked their way through the fleet to take the lead.

With a Easterly breeze of between 7 and 12 kts it made for a tricky tactical race. The first beat into Rose Bay saw a split in the fleet with AAPT, Asko, Club Marine and Rag and Famish all opting for the windward side of Shark Island. Pegasus Racing, SELS and Appliances Online all opting for the leeward side looking for the wind bend in the early part of the bay. Turned out that the windward end had the edge with all of the leeward boats rounding in the early teens.

Then came the moves from back in the fleet, first, CT Sailbattens (Phil Airey, NZ) and Casio came blasting through into the lead and second only to eventually be passed by Club Marine.

So two races down and it's a consistent Kiwi at the front of the fleet.

Results Heat 2

  1. Club Marine
  2. Casio Seapathfinder
  3. CT Sailbattens
  4. Rag and Famish Hotel
  5. Asko Appliances
  6. Ssangyong Yandoo
  7. AAPT
  8. Pegasus Racing
  9. Omega Smeg
  10. Maytag

02/20/06 Top

 

The Shifty One!
18 Foot Skiff JJ Giltinan Heat 3

What a place this is, just when you think all is well and you're getting to grips with the local shift patterns it hits you with a curve ball!

After a lay day on Monday, the fleet got back to business again with a South East wind of between 6 and 10 kts. Anyone who has sailed on the harbour before in an 18 will tell you that this is one of the toughest directions to sail in, it has a reputation of munching even the most experienced crews. Today was no exception.

From the start (with the Manley ferry passing through 30 seconds after the gun !) it was always going to be tough. Delonghi with Grant Rollerson at the helm took the race by the horns and headed to the right hand side of Rose bay with a big shift up the shore followed by a meaty header gave him a huge lead at the first mark. In the closing pack were, Asko, Casio and Club Marine.

Because of the shifts and gusts it was always going to be a struggle to hang onto a lead and Delonghi was eventually passed by Asko who then went on to win. Delonghi held on to finish second from Casio with a charging Rag and Famish in fourth.

Further down the fleet saw some very noticeable slip-ups, Ssangyong Yandoo (18th), Pegasus Racing (23rd) and Maytag (25th) all having bad hair days on the wrong side of the shifts, even the best can get it wrong !

Results Heat 3:

  1. Asko Appliances
  2. De Longhi
  3. Casio Seapathfinder
  4. Rag and Famish Hotel
  5. Club Marine
  6. Toshiba
  7. Appliances Online
  8. Active Air
  9. Fisher Fine Arts / Helly Hansen
  10. Omega Smeg

02/22/06 Top

 

Déjà Vu ?
18 Foot Skiff JJ Giltinan Heat 4

Easterly / South Easterly breeze 6-10kts, sound familiar??

Yes it was more of the same on the harbour yesterday; large shifts, explosive point blank gusts and lulls that I'm convinced were a vacuum!!

But it was predominantly the same boats at the front of the pack again, Asko managed to break free of the pack to take an healthy early lead from AAPT, Club Marine and SX Projects by banging the right hand side of the beat.

The runs were a full on snakes and ladders affair, if you got hooked into a full gust, it was a 500m ladder. Asko and the leaders got good breeze and disappeared into the distance. At this point, most thought that that would be the finishing order, but, the back from the dead prize goes to Howie Hamlin and the crew of Pegasus Racing for pulling out a miracle and getting back to second. Pics by Christophe Favreau.

A tough day on the harbour!

Results Heat 4

  1. Asko Appliances
  2. Pegasus Racing
  3. AAPT
  4. Fisher and Paykel
  5. Club Marine
  6. SX Projects
  7. Casio Seapathfinder
  8. Ssangyong Yandoo
  9. Active Air
  10. Rag and Famish

02/23/06 Top