The experienced Yandoo team of John Winning, Seve Jarvin and Mike Kennedy won a dramatic Race 1 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Hatbour today.
Yandoo took out the race by1m32s from the young The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone team of Jordan Girdis, Lachlan Doyle and Tom Quigley, with Bing Lee (Micah Lane, Peter Harris, Jack Macartney) a further 40s back in third place. Finport Finance (Tom Clout) finished in fourth place, followed by Asko Appliances (James Dorron) and Smeg (Michael Coxon),
The race began in a light East-South-East breeze with most of the fleet electing to sail to the west of Shark Island to reach the windward mark in Rose Bay. The lone skipper to sail the more regular course (east of Shark Island) was Brett Van Munster in Appliancesonline.com.au. Van Munster's move proved a winner as Appliancesonline led Finport Finance by 5s in Rose Bay, with John Winning Jr. (Winning Group) in third place.
On the long spinnaker run across the harbout to the bottom mark off Robertson Point, Appliancesonline retained the lead over Finport Finance, Smeg and Winning Group, but the race was turned on its head when most of the fleet went around the mark in the wrong direction.
It was only when Yandoo, Ilve (Jonathan Whitty), R Marine Pittwater (Simon Nearn) and Bing Lee sailed the correct course that many other teams were forced back to re-round the mark.
Finport Finance's crew saw what happened behind them and set a spinnaker to go back while the leading team, Appliancesonline didn't notice and continued to sail the course. When notified by the judge as she crossed the finish line, her crew accepted the decision without complaint.
Following the drama, Bing Lee became the new leader at Clakr Island then held a 55s lead after the tight run to Chowder Bay.
Yandoo and R Marine Pittwater had a great battle on this run with Yandoo edging out R Marine Pittwater as the fleet headed across the harbour to Rose Bay.
Asko Appliances was next, ahead of The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (James Ward), Quality Marine Clothing (Yvette Heritage), Ilve, Finport Finance and Panasonic Lumix (Katie Love).
On the loop from Rose Bay to Taylor Bay, and back to Rose Bay, Yandoo dominated the race and was more than 2mins ahead of The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone on the final spinnaker run.
Finport Finance showed great speed with her big rig over the final two legs of the course and recovered from her earlier problem to finish an impressive fourth.
Next Sunday is Race 2 of the NSW Championship. The club's spectator ferry will follow all the racing action, leaving Double Bay Public Wharf, alongside the clubhouse, at 2pm.
– Frank Quealey
