Whether he’s dressed in a business suit or wetsuit, Hugh Skeen is seeing the growth of the 13ft skiff class first-hand. By day, the 20-year-old dons the shirt and tie for work as a construction management student/cadet, dovetailing that work into his role as the 13s delegate at Manly Skiff Club.
Part of his sailing committee responsibilities involve keeping the shirt and tie on and knocking on the door of prospective sponsors – the lifeblood of any sporting organisation. On Saturdays, the business suit is replaced by a wetsuit and harness as Skeen joins Sophie Hart aboard Botany Scaffold in the 13s fleet.
It leaves him in a unique position to comment on the division’s growing popularity, both from a competitor and sponsor perspective.
“I think there’s increased interest as many juniors graduating from smaller boats prefer to have fleet racing at a club level as opposed to training in something like a 29-er,” Skeen said. “The club also helps finance the boats with prize money and grants, so it makes sailing more affordable for sailors.
“As the 13s have the same media coverage and a growing popularity and becoming more competitive, sponsors are beginning see them as being more marketable and a worthwhile investment. “As the fleet grows in size, it will only bring more sponsors into frame.”
Sixteen boats have registered in the 13s for the 2024/25 season, with one brand new boat (Red Pumps) and four new sponsors joining the contingent. Better Auto (Abigail Rolfe) is one of the new backers, while IMEI has rebadged and updated the livery aboard Charlie Snell’s skiff after the young skipper reached out to them with a sponsorship proposal.
Skeen said: “The fleet is looking like it will be one of the strongest in recent years. “There are many boats fighting at the front of the fleet to keep things interesting and you can see a huge improvement from the boats who have now entered their second season.
“The new teams are also making huge improvement each week and will soon be in the mid fleet mix as well.”
That competition was evident on Saturday as two short course pointscore races played out in a shifty westerly. The Kitchen Maker (Tayla Lees and James Hopkins) took out race one by just eight seconds from Botany Scaffold and QED (David Tulk), with Harken (Heidi Bates and Orlando Sadlik) prevailing from The Kitchen Maker and Buck & Simple (Lachlan Jansen) in the follow up race.
In the 16s, Sutech (Mike Koerner) took honours in race one with Modern Concept Constructions (Daryl Milham) successful in race two.
The 13 class will only grow from here. Many flying 11 sailors are already talking about wanting to move into the 13 and more and more clubs are starting to adopt the 13s into their fleets. Looking at the talents coming through, the 13s are only going to become more competitive and a more attractive boat to sail.
WORDS ADAM LUCIUS
PHOTOS MANLY16s & SAIL MEDIA
