The race to decide the 2024-25 NSW 18ft skiff Championship winner will come down to the final day’s racing on Sydney Harbour next Sunday after the two leading teams shared the honours in the two short course races contested on Sydney Harbour today.
Rag & Famish Hotel and Finport Finance went into today equal on points after each recorded a win and a second placing in last Sunday’s opening races of the series.
Wins today for each team and, allowing for each team to discard its worst performance to date, both Rag & Famish Hotel and Finport Finance share the lead with net totals of four points.
It will all come down next Sunday when the 16-boat fleet contests the final two races.
Rag & Famish Hotel was without her regular skipper Harry Price (knee injury) but replacement Josh Porebski, Max Paul and Tom Anderson did a wonderful job in the light SE breeze to score an all-the-way 1m14s win from Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich, Roy Woodcock and Paddy Bannon in Race 5 – the first of today’s two races.
The young Sixt team of Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli and Matt Doyle came back strongly into form to finish in third place, a further 19s behind Lazarus.
Balmain (Henry Larkings) finished in fourth place, followed by Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell), Yandoo (Micah Lane), Finport (Keagan York), and The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel).
The Finport Finance team of Keagan York, Angus Williams and Phil Marshall were back to their best form when they grabbed the lead midway through the latter Race 6 and scored a 1m8s win over arch rival Rag & Famish Hotel, with defending champion Yandoo (Micah Lane, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake) just 9s further back in third place.
Balmain and Vaikobi both finished in fourth and fifth places respectively again followed by Burrawang-Young Henrys (Simon Nearn) which finished strongly to take out sixth place.
The top ten placings, after each team discards its worst performance to date, are: Rag & Famish Hotel 4pts, Finport Finance 4pts, Yandoo 10pts, Balmain 12pts, Vaikobi 16pts, Smeg (Nathan McNamara) 17pts, Lazarus 18pts, Sixt 21pts, Burrawang-Young Henrys 22pts and The Kitchen Maker 22pts.
In Race 5, after an even start in Athol Bay, and close racing to the weather mark near Rose Bay, Rag & Famish Hotel grabbed a 20s lead over Vaikobi with a closely bunched fleet including Lazarus, The Kitchen Maker, Balmain, Sixt and Yandoo.
Vaikobi lost time to the leader on the tight run to the wing mark, allowing Lazarus and Sixt through to head the chase, but it was all in vain as The Rag’s crew work was superb and the strong team extended its lead over the second lap of the course to go on to a comfortable victory.
The latter Race 6 had a familiar look about it when Rag & Famish Hotel opened up a 15s lead over Finport Finance at the weather mark and maintained the advantage over the entire lap back to the bottom mark.
Finoprt Finance’s crew quickly mounted a challenge soon after rounding the bottom mark and opened up a break over Rag & Famish Hotel after making a move to the RHS of the course.
At the final weather mark and with just the spinnaker run straight back to the bottom mark, Finport Finance had increased her lead to 57s and stretched it out to finish with a 1m8s margin over The Rag.
The racing, particularly between the third and tenth places, was tight and some of the newer, younger teams appreciated the more favourable harbour conditions than they have faced for most of the season.
With good racing conditions again next week, hopefully, the racing should go up another level and the final result uncertain until the last race of the championship.
In the handicap section of each race, which counts for the Season Point Score, the provisional results were: Race 5, Gotcha 4 Life (Will Dargaville) won from Sixt and Lazarus, and in Race 6 Sixt won from Lazarus and Finport Finance
The final two races of the NSW Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour next Sunday (22 December). The Australian 18 Footers League spectator ferry will follow the racing, leaving Double Bay Public Wharf, alongside the clubhouse, at 2pm.
SailMedia will also livestream all the action.
Frank Quealey
Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.
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18ft Skiffs – NSW Championship, Races 5 and 6
Sunday, 15 December 2024 – Sydney Harbour
