School mates become rival skippers at the JJs
When the 26-boat fleet lines up on Sydney Harbour to contest the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by the Winning Group, on Sydney Harbour from March 7-15, two of the teams battling for victory will be skippered by talented teenagers Ben Crafoord and Jacob Marks.
19-year-old Crafoord will skipper Rag & Famish Hotel and 18-year-old Marks will skipper Sixt.
While strong, sometimes even physical, rivalry between competing skippers has been a feature of Australian 18 footer racing on Sydney Harbour for the past 134 years, the rivalry between Crafoord and Marks will be hard and no-holds-barred, but it will remain friendly as the two young champions have a past association that goes back several years.
As Ben points out, “Jacob and I went to the same primary school and high school and got the bus to school together most days.”
“At school we started sailing Optis when we were younger, then Pacers and 29ers when we got bigger. It was after the 2022 world 29er championship in Spain, where we both steered, we decided to team up for the next worlds in Weymouth.”
“We had a great qualifying in Weymouth as it was very windy every day and we were on the heavy side of crew weights, but in the finals the conditions became quite light and bumpy and we struggled getting overtaken by the lighter crews.”
The Crafoord-Marks team won the 205-entry Q (qualifying) series with race results of 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, (6) for a total of 8 points, then finished in 7th place in the 2023 world 29er Championship.
The ‘friendly rivalry’ between the two teams goes beyond the skippers, extending to Max Nearn in the bow of Rag & Famish Hotel and Alex Marinelli on the sheet in Sixt.
Max was in the same High School sailing program squad as Ben and Jacob for four years so he did a lot of sailing with them, and raced against both in the 29ers for 2-3 years.
Alex Marinelli coached all three at The Scots College and was the first person to sail with each the first time they sailed with a spinnaker.
It was just a few months after the Weymouth 29er worlds that Alex took the incredible initiative and encouraged the then 16-year-old Marks into the 18s to skipper The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines, and moved himself onto the sheet.
The result was instant success in 2023-24 when Jacob, Alex and Matt Doyle (bow) won the 2023 Spring Championship series. The same trio, sailing Sixt, have finished 12th in each of the 2024 and 2025 JJ Giltinan World championships.
The sixth member of the two teams, Ryan Ewings also has a previous association with the group. He sailed a 29er with Jacob Marks prior to Marks joining with Crafoord in 2023.
With all club racing now complete before the Giltinan worlds gets under way on Saturday, March 7, the two young teams can look back with satisfaction on what they have achieved since the season began in mid-October.
The Rag’s rookie season was impressive as the team finished 3rd in each of the NSW State, League Club, and Spring championships. The Sixt team was having its third season together and once again proved successful with victories in the League’s Season Point Score and Spring Championship, along with 4th in the Club Championship and 6th in the NSW State titles.
Ben summed up his feelings about the two teams at the Giltinan World Championship, and beyond, “We are definitely friendly rivals in the 18s. We have been out training against each other recently and hopefully we both have a great JJs and continue to progress up the fleet.”
There is no club racing on Sydney Harbour on Sunday, 1 March. Racing will resume on March 6.
Race dates for the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by the Winning Group, are:
Friday March 6, 2026 Invitation Race
Saturday March 7, 2026 Race 1, George Calligeros Trophy
Sunday March 8, 2026 Race 2, Cliff Monkhouse Memorial Trophy
Tuesday March 10, 2026 Races 3 & 4, Alan Cole Memorial Trophy
Wednesday March 11, 2026 Races 5 & 6, AJ Reynolds Trophy
Thursday March 12, 2026 Race 7, Bill Miller Memorial Trophy
Saturday March 14, 2026 Race 8, Bill Kite Memorial Trophy
Sunday March 15, 2026 Race 9, Ribbon and JJ Giltinan Trophy
List of Entries for the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by the Winning Group:
Yandoo Aust John Winning Jr, Fang Warren, Lewis Brake
Shaw and Partners Financial Services Aust Keagan York, Max Paul, Tom Anderson
Black Knight Germany Heinrich Von Bayern, Thomas Martin, Andy Martin
Balmain Aust Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes, Lachlan Pryor
Shaw and Partners Financial Services NZ Eli Liefting, Sam Street, Josh Schon
Club Marine Aust Emma Rankin, Brandon Buyink, Jed Cruikshank
GC Sails Aust Scott Cunningham, Joel Turner, Dave Cunningham
Vaikobi Aust Kirk Mitchell, Andrew Stephenson, Daniel Barnett
Sixt Aust Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli, Matt Doyle
Lazarus Capital Partners Aust Tom Cunich, Marc Chapon, Tim Westwood
Smeg Aust Ash Rooklyn, tba, Niall Morrow
Brisbane 18 Footers Aust Josh Sloman, Ben Roxburgh, Angus Barker
Big Foot Bags and Covers Aust Dave Hayter, Trent Neighbour, Elliott Mahar
Fisher & Paykel Aust Brett Van Munster, Tom Quigley, Logan Radford
Rag & Famish Hotel Aust Ben Crafoord, Ryan Ewings, Max Nearn
The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines Aust Hugo Stoner, Zann Scrimgeour, Daniel Watson
ASCC NZ Campbell Stanton, Ollie Gilmore, Pat Morgan
Killer Coffee Co Aust Jordan Girdis, Max Vos, Nick Rozenauers
The Kitchen Maker Aust Lachlan Steel, George Morton, Jerome Watts
Sothebys Ballard Property Aust Bec Hancock, Cam Walker, Ed Swain
Gotcha4Life Aust Kade Morgan, Graeme Fairbairn, Isaac Marney
Akarana Eatery NZ Monty Alderson, Levi Jenkins, Marcel van der Voort
18 Footers Bar and Restaurant Aust Luca Gambacorti, Max Herscovics, Nic Livermore
Bar Karate – the Sailing Podcast UK Ian Turnbull, Harvey Hillary, Stuart Keegan
Badnavn the Vikings Denmark Jesper Brondum, Holdnavn Marvik, Badnavn Marvik
Berlin Bears Germany Philipp Nocke, Marceli Mierzw, Max Seydl
Frank Quealey – Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.
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