18ft Skiff NSW Championship – Day 2
by Frank Quealey 8 Dec 00:25 PST
From 2 December 2024
After the cancellation of Races 1 and 2 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship due to a severe storm that struck as teams were preparing, the series resumed today on Sydney Harbour with Races 3 and 4 organized by the Australian 18 Footers League. Rag & Famish Hotel and Finport Finance emerged victorious in these races, both teams now sharing the top position.
Race 3 saw a 23-second victory for the ‘replacement’ crew of James Dorron (skipper, replacing the injured Harry Price), with Harry Hall filling in for Max Paul, and the regular bowman Finn Rodowicz as the only consistent crew member competing today.
Finport Finance (Matt Stenta, Angus Williams, and Phil Marshall) secured second place, narrowly defeating Yandoo (John Winning, Fang Warren, and Lewis Brake) by just 1 second at the finish line. Matt Stenta also stepped in as the skipper on the day, filling in for Keagan York.
Balmain (Henry Larkings) took fourth place, finishing ahead of Smeg (Nathan McNamara) and Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell).
In the subsequent Race 4, the earlier race results were flipped as Finport Finance gained victory over Rag & Famish Hotel by 23 seconds, marking Matt Stenta’s first race win as a skipper in the 18s, although he has previously claimed a Giltinan World Championship with Andoo as a sheet hand.
The Smeg team, consisting of Nathan McNamara, Jed Cruikshank, and Jack Taylor, displayed their season-long consistency, completing the race in third place, 2 minutes and 5 seconds behind Rag & Famish Hotel.
Yandoo finished in fourth, followed by Balmain, Vaikobi, and Burrawang-Young Henrys (Simon Nearn).
At the close of the racing day in the NSW Championship, Rag & Famish Hotel and Finport Finance lead the standings with three points each, trailed by Yandoo with seven, Smeg with eight, Balmain with nine, and Vaikobi with twelve.
Both races were held on a windward-leeward course between Athol Bay and a mark set off Clark Island/Double Bay, with a southeast breeze not exceeding 15 knots.
The Race 3 competition for the lead was fierce as the fleet approached the weather mark, where Rag & Famish Hotel (inside) and Yandoo rounded the mark together, 5 seconds ahead of Smeg, followed by Finport Finance, Marine Outlet (Cam Gundy), Balmain, The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel), Vaikobi, Burrawang-Young Henrys, and Sixt (Ryan Ewings).
As spinnakers were deployed and the fleet turned back towards the bottom mark, the dynamics shifted rapidly as The Rag sped ahead to a 30-second lead over Yandoo, which increased to 45 seconds at the next weather mark, ultimately winning by a 59-second margin.
In Race 4, Tom Cunich’s Lazarus team quickly established a narrow lead over the closely packed fleet and sailed excellently to fend off strong challenges from Rag & Famish Hotel and Finport Finance, maintaining a 3-second lead over The Rag at the weather mark.
Rag & Famish Hotel built a 10-second lead over Finport Finance after the spinnaker leg back to Athol Bay, but Finport Finance made a comeback to hold a 15-second lead before engaging in a neck-and-neck battle to the finish, where Finport ultimately won by 23 seconds.
Both races also counted toward the League’s Season Point Score series, which evaluates each team’s performance based on their handicap over the entire season.
The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel, Jerome Watts, Tim Narbourgh) won Race 3 on handicap over Burrawang-Young Henrys and Marine Outlet, while Finport Finance achieved a ‘double’ in Race 4 by complementing their line victory with handicap points.
In the Season Point Score standings, Rag & Famish Hotel leads with a total of 31 points, followed by Burrawang-Young Henrys at 43, Balmain at 44, Finport Finance at 47, and both Smeg and The Kitchen Maker at 48 points.
Races 5 and 6 are set to take place next Sunday (15 December), with the final two championship races scheduled for Sunday, 22 December.
The Australian 18 Footers League’s spectator ferry will monitor all racing, and the SailMedia livestream team will be on hand to capture all the action.
