It was a history-making day for the Australian 18 Footers League on Sydney Harbour when Tash Bryant became the first female skipper in the club’s 90-year history to steer the winner of a Club Championship race.
Tash, the Australian SailGP tactician, displayed her tactical skills in the challenging light east breeze, leading the Yandoo team of Tom Needham and Lewis Brake to win the race by 1 minute 2 seconds from Andoo (Seve Jarvin, Jono Whitty, Cameron McDonald).
Third place went to the rookie team of Ben Crafoord, Ryan Ewings, and Max Nearn, who sailed brilliantly to bring Rag & Famish Hotel home just 14 seconds behind Andoo.
Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich) finished fourth after recovering from a disappointing first lap, ahead of Shaw and Partners and Sixt (Jacob Marks) in sixth place.
Yandoo’s victory in the Club Championship gives them a score of 2 points, a four-point lead over Lazarus on 6 points. Sixt is in third on 9 points, followed by Club Marine (Emma Rankin) on 17, Fisher & Paykel (Brett Van Munster) 18, and Andoo on 20.
The corrected times for the Spring Championship section saw victory in Race 4 go to Bec Hancock, Cam Walker, and Ed Swain on Sotheby’s Ballard Property, with Rag & Famish Hotel and The Killer Coffee Co following.
Sixt leads the series with 11 points, with just two more races to be sailed. The second-placed Club Marine totals 16, followed by Lazarus on 21, Yandoo 22, Fisher & Paykel 23, Rag & Famish Hotel 24, Sotheby’s Ballard Property 25, and Smeg (Ash Rooklyn) on 26.
There is no discard in the six-race series.
After recovering from a difficult start, Yandoo’s team was close behind at the first weather mark, just 8 seconds adrift of the new Shaw and Partners Financial Services, skippered by Keagan York.
Bec Hancock and her team achieved a remarkable third place, just 25 seconds from the leader, followed by Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell), Andoo, and The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel).
As the leaders approached the bottom marks, the wind was light. Shaw and Partners was first to gybe off Clark Island and increased her advantage over Yandoo, who was trailing closely.
Shaw and Partners went left while Yandoo went right, resulting in a tight contest as they rounded the second weather mark alongside Andoo.
A better spinnaker set on Yandoo took them into a narrow lead over Shaw and Partners, but the competition remained fierce.
Yandoo’s tactics ultimately paid dividends, establishing a lead of nearly one minute over Andoo, while Shaw and Partners fell back into third place.
While conditions were not ideal for the action-seeking 18s crews, they provided the new, young teams an opportunity to sail their new boats after a challenging start to the season.
Next Sunday (9 November), Race 5 of the SIXT Spring Championship, over a 3-buoys course, will be conducted for the Chris Webb Memorial Trophy. The club’s spectator ferry will follow the race, and SailMedia will cover all the action.
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