18ft Skiffs - Season Point Score - Race 17

Race Sponsor: Royal Oak Hotel Double Bay – Sunday, 23 February 2025 – Sydney Harbour

The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake gave an outstanding performance of crew work in the 18-20 knot North East wind to score a confidence-building victory in the Australian 18 Footers League, Season Point Score Race 17 on Sydney Harbour today.

With the Giltinan world Championship just two weeks away, Yandoo’s has been under pressure from the current Australian champion Rag & Famish Hotel team (Harry Price) but today’s win in a typical harbour nor’easter was a real boost for the defending Giltinan champions.

After three exciting laps of the course, Yandoo crossed the finish line 49s ahead of a very persistent challenging Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell, Andrew Stephenson and Daniel Barnett), with Finport Finance (Keagan York, Angus Williams and Phil Marshall) a further 1m6s back in third place.

Balmain (Henry Larkings) also showed some excellent form to finish in fourth place ahead of Rag & Famish Hotel, Sixt (Jacob Marks) and Queensland’s Big Foot Bags & Covers (Dave Hayter), which was competing in preparation for the upcoming Giltinan Championship.

The German team on Black Knight (Heinrich von Bayern) only arrived yesterday for the Giltinan, but were anxious to get on the water and crossed the finish line next, ahead of The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel), Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich), Smeg (Nathan McNamara) and Noakes (Bec Hancock).

Balmain’s team of Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Flynn Twomey have produced consistently good performances all season and have deserved the one point lead they hold going into the final race (next Sunday) in the 90-year-old Australian 18 Footers League Season Point Score series.

Balmain has a total of 82 points, followed by Rag & Famish Hotel on 83, Yandoo 89, Vaikobi 91, The Kitchen Maker 92 and Lazarus Capital Partners on 96 points.

Right from the start of the 3-buoys race, Yandoo was in or near the lead and led the fleet from Vaikobi, Burrawang-Young Henrys Simon Nearn, Finport Finance, and Sixt when spinnakers were set for the run to the wing mark off the southern end of Shark Island after all teams had cleared the first set of weather marks.

Yandoo was under pressure from the Vaikobi team which got to within 5s of the lead as the two skiffs set off for the next spinnaker run from Shark Island to Clark Island.

Burrawang-Young Henrys was next, followed by Balmain, Finport Finance, Sixt and Smeg.

The action was spectacular as the skiffs raced between the islands and the Yandoo team’s excellent crew work allowed it to extend the lead out to 19s from Vaikobi, Burrawang-Young Henrys, Balmain, Smeg, Finport Finance, Sixt, The Kitchen Maker, Lazarus, Rag & Famish Hotel and Big Foot.

Shortly after rounding the bottom mark, a big change came over the race and Vaikobi grabbed the lead from Yandoo (as they untangled their kite halyard) while Balmain continued to work its way through the fleet and was now in third place. Two teams fell foul to the tough conditions, Sixt and Smeg and capsized, but both teams righted themselves and continued in the race.

Yandoo regained the lead midway up the next windward leg to the second set of 3-buoys marks,

Under the handicap system, Yandoo had to sail further to the ‘red’ buoy while Vaikobi gained a slight advantage by sailing to the ‘white’mark.

Yandoo rounded her mark 15s ahead of Vaikobi but Vaikobi’s mark, being several metres ‘shorter’ allowed the two skiffs to be alongside each other as they started the long spinnaker run back down the harbour to the bottom mark off Clark Island.

Balmain was in third place, followed by Finport Finance and Burrawang-Young Henrys.

At Clark Island, Yandoo had extended her lead over Vaikobi to 30s with Balmain now only 10s further back in third place, followed by Finport Finance and Rag & Famish Hotel, which was 1m50s from the leader.

Yandoo’s crew were in great form and, despite a great challenge from the Vaikobi team, still managed to hold onto a 30s lead as spinnakers were set for the final time and the run, via the Shark Island wing mark, to the finish off Clark Island.

Next Sunday is the final race of the Australian 18 Footers League Club Championship in conjunction with the final race of the Season Point Score. It is also the final hit-out for all teams before the start of the Giltinan Championship, from 8-16 March.

The club’s spectator ferry will follow next Sunday’s race, leaving Double Bay Public Wharf at 2pm. The ferry will also follow all seven race days during the Giltinan Championship.

SailMedia will live stream each of those races and will also live stream the invitation race to the Giltinan Championship on Friday, 7 March.