All the latest news plus some history from the Australian 18 Footers League Ltd
Evolution of Australia’s leading 18 footer club As the Australian 18 Footers League (originally known as NSW 18 Footers Sailing League) prepares for the upcoming 2025-26 season, beginning with Race 1 of the Spring Championship on October 12, it’s good…
QUEENSLAND 18 FOOTER HISTORY Decades of successful ideas and achievement Queensland’s revival over recent seasons, which resulted in a two-pronged attack by experienced and young teams in new skiffs at the 2025 Giltinan world championship, brought back memories of the…
Record-breaking team celebrate in London When England’s Tim Robinson skippered Rockport to victory in the 1999 JJ Giltinan 18 footer Championship on Sydney Harbour, he set the record of becoming the first skipper from the Northern Hemisphere to win the…
NEW ZEALAND 18 FOOTER INNOVATORS – Strong contributors to the 18 footer evolution David McDiarmid’s Honda Marine 18 footer team had just completed its three-in-a-row winning run at the 2020 JJ Giltinan World Championship on Sydney Harbour when the COVID-19…
WESTERN AUSTRALIA On-off 18 footer record from 1890s-2013 Western Australia’s participation in the Australian 18 footer scene has been an on-off situation between the 1890s and 2013 but its impact during the early years of the class demands that it…
A unique connection between brute strength and beauty James Joseph Giltinan was one of Australia’s great entrepreneurs of the early 1900s, and the man most responsible for creating a unique link between one of the most confrontational football codes in…
The last world 18 footer champion before one design When Michael Spies won the 1993 and 1995 World 18 footer championships, in his Julian Bethwaite-designed Winfield Racing skiff, he became the last winner of the title before the introduction of…
29 years of 18ft skiff sponsorship success The Smeg Australia 18ft skiff sponsorship with the Australian 18 footers League began in 1996-97 and has continued harmoniously, with many great successes, over the following twenty nine seasons on Sydney Harbour. It…
A look back in time at the 18 footers early years We are all familiar with the modern 18 footers as they speed across Sydney Harbour with their carbon fibre hulls and lightweight state-of-the-art sails and spars but they a…
The closest of 76 regattas in the greatest championship The recent JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship regatta produced some nervous moments for the Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake during the ‘crazy’ westerly conditions of the…
Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship – Race 9 sponsor: The Kitchen Maker Sunday 16 March 2025 – Sydney Harbour The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake became the world 18 footer champions…
Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship – Race 8 Sponsor: Smeg Trophy: Big Kite Memorial Trophy – Saturday, 15 March 2025 – Sydney Harbour The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake went into today’s Race…
Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship – Race 7 Sponsor: Marine Outlet Trophy: Bill Miller Memorial Trophy – Thursday, 13 March 2025 – Sydney Harbour With just one point separating the two leading contenders for the Winnings 2025 JJ…
Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship – Race sponsor: Vaikobi Trophy: A.J. Reynolds – Wednesday, 12 March 2025 – Sydney Harbour Today’s wind was light and shifty as it was yesterday, but the results of the two short-course races…
Winings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship – Race Sponsor: Harken Trophy: Alan Cole Memorial Trophy – Tuesday, 11 March 2025 – Sydney Harbour Two short-course races with rain and light, variable easterly conditions on Day 3 of the…
Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship – Race 1 – Race sponsor: StretchLab Double Bay Trophy: George Calligeros Memorial Trophy – Saturday, 8 March 2025 – Sydney Harbour The Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship got underway with…
THE YANDOO 18ft SKIFF TEAM Preparing to defend the JJ Giltinan title As we move toward tomorrow’s (Saturday, 8 March) first race of the Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour, the defending champion Yandoo team faces…
Today’s Race Sponsor: Smeg, Sunday, 2 March 2025, Sydney Harbour The Australian champion team of Harry Price, Max Paul and Finn Rodowicz already had the Australian 18 Footers League Club Championship won prior to today’s race so much of the…
Australian champion team eyes the JJ Giltinan Trophy Sports media commentators often use the phrase “a champion team will always beat a team of champions” but the reason why the champion Rag & Famish 18ft skiff team has been almost unbeatable in…
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…
Race Sponsor: Lazarus Capital Partners, Sunday, 16 February, 2025, Sydney Harbour Another outstanding victory by the recently-crowned Australian 18ft skiff champion Rag & Famish Hotel team on Sydney Harbour today has sealed the 2024-25 Australian 18 Footers League Club Championship…
Only three races to the world’s best championship With less than one month to go before the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship is contested on Sydney Harbour, from March 8-16, next Sunday’s Australian 18 Footers League Club Championship race is critical…
LEAGUE’S 90th BIRTHDAY – Successful celebrations on the harbour The Australian18 Footers League celebrated its 90th Anniversary over the past weekend with three days of action-packed racing over Sydney Harbour – from east of the Sydney Opera House to Middle…
Queen of the Harbour – Sunday, 2 February 2025 A 10-12 knot North-East breeze, perfect sailing conditions for 18ft skiff racing, provided a brilliant experience for each of the female crew members entered in the annual Queen of the Harbour, which…
Sydney Harbour Marathon, Saturday, 1 February 2025 Sponsored by Shaw and Partners Financial Services The Australian 18 Footers League, as part of its 90th Anniversary celebrations, today recreated the Sydney Harbour Marathon, last sailed 37 years ago when 18, 16…
When the Sydney Flying Squadron had a dispute with boat owners in its 18 footer fleet during the early 1930s, Mr. James J. Giltinan guided the owners into the formation of a new 18 footer club in Sydney to cater…
The Rag & Famish Hotel team of Harry Price/Josh Porebski, Max Paul and Finn Rodowicz became the 2024-25 NSW 18ft skiff champions after an exciting day of action-packed racing in the final two races of the championship on Sydney Harbour…
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…
Following the forced abandonment of Races 1 and 2 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship, due to an intense storm which hit as the fleet prepared to race, the series began on Sydney Harbour today when Races 3 and 4…
Following the abandonment of Races 1 and 2 of the NSW 18ft skiff Championship last Sunday, due to a severe electrical storm and the threat of a possible follow up, the Australian 18 Footers League will now stage Races 3…
Officials were forced to abandon racing on Day 1 of the NSW 18ft skiff Championship today when an intense electrical storm accompanied by heavy rain and hail swept in from the west, reducing visibility to near zero on the Sydney…
The Rag & Famish Hotel team of Harry Price, Max Paul and Finn Rodowicz goes into the opening day’s racing of the 2024-25 18ft Skiffs NSW Championship next Sunday as favourite to take the title after an outstanding start to…
The Rag & Famish Hotel team of Harry Price, Max Paul and Finn Rodowicz wrapped up the 2024 Sixt Spring 18ft skiff Championship, which concluded on Sydney Harbour today. The Rag, with Josh Porebski standing in for regular skipper Harry…
The Rag & Famish Hotel team of Harry Price, Max Paul and Finn Rodowicz continued their domination of the 2024-25 Australian 18 Footers League fleet with another brilliant exhibition in the strong north-east wind conditions on a near-deserted Sydney Harbour…
The period from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s was one of the greatest, probably THE greatest, periods of racing in the 132-year history of 18 footer racing in Australia and New Zealand, and produced some of the greatest competitors…
Another impressive performance by the talented Rag & Famish Hotel 18ft skiff crew of Harry Price, Max Paul and Finn Rodowicz secured the team their second win of the series when they took out Race 2 of the Australian 18…
Great consistency is a winning formula Since the beginning of last season’s (2023-24) 18 footer campaign, the Vaikobi team of Kirk Mitchell (skipper), Andrew Stephenson (sheet hand) and Daniel Barnett (bow) have been one of the most consistent teams in…
Race 2 of the 2024 Sixt Spring 18 footer Championship was conducted by the Australian 18 Footers League on Sydney Harbour today when 16 of the club’s teams faced the start in a 8-12 knot north-east wind, which produced much…
After being battered by a 20-25 knot southerly wind on Sydney Harbour last Sunday, the Australian 18 Footers League fleet returns to the harbour waters again next Sunday to contest Race 2 of the Sixt Spring Championship and Mick Scully…
The Australian 18 Footers League’s 91st season of 18ft skiff racing began on Sydney Harbour today when the club conducted Race 1 of its 2024-25 Club Championship and Race 1 of the Sixt Spring Championship, for the Alf Beashel Memorial…
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