When the Australian 18 Footer League’s fleet lines up on Sydney Harbour on Sunday to contest Race 2 of the League’s club championship, sixteen teams will aim to halt the current JJ Giltinan world champion, Yandoo, from winning its fourth consecutive race from the four races sailed by that time.
Making its three victories so far even more impressive, the wins have come with three different skippers in charge. John ‘Woody’ Winning won the opening race of the season from the ‘scratch’ mark, followed by a win in Race 1 of the club championship skippered by John ‘Herman’ Winning Jr. Last Sunday, there was a significant change to the team when Steve Thomas skippered Yandoo, Max Paul replaced Fang Warren on the sheet, and only Lewis Brake, in the bow, was a regular member of the Yandoo team.
With testing North-East winds prevailing, many teams failed to complete the course, and the Thomas-led team was able to maintain the winning record of the incredible skiff, which has also won the last three JJ Giltinan World championships. Even at the world’s greatest 18ft skiff championship, Yandoo’s three-time winning record is unique.
With the skiff’s regular skipper John ‘Woody’ Winning sidelined due to surgery after taking out the 2023-24 NSW Championship, Micah Lane took over the tiller of Yandoo and won the 2024 Giltinan worlds. In 2005, Tom Needham was the winning skipper, and in 2026 it was John Winning Jr.
Despite the dominance over the past three seasons and in the early races of the 2026-27 season, the competition is far from beaten as many good, young teams in competitive boats are lining up ready to challenge the champ as the season progresses towards the 2027 JJ Giltinan World Championship in March.
If the predicted 13-knot South-East wind prevails at race time on Sunday, it will provide these new teams another opportunity to test themselves against Yandoo in perfect Sydney Harbour sailing conditions.
On form shown so far by the challenging pack, Smeg (Ash Rooklyn) and the current Australian champion Balmain (Henry Larkings) are the most likely to challenge Yandoo, but several teams are not far off the pace and will deliver great racing action. Among this group are Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York), Killer Coffee Co (Ryan Ewings), Rag & Famish Hotel (Ben Crafoord), Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich), Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell), The Kitchen Maker (Jordan Girdis), Club Marine (Emma Rankin), and Sixt (Jacob Marks).
Sunday will also see Joel Beashel contest his first race in the fleet as skipper of Thurlow Fisher Lawyers. With a very strong crew, this team is expected to be one to watch in the coming weeks.
Race 4 of the SIXT Spring Championship and Mondiale VGL Season Point Score will be sailed alongside the club championship and, due to it being based on each team’s allocated handicap, is set to be a very close event.
Progress top-10 points in the club championship are: 1 Yandoo, 2 Smeg, 3 Balmain, 4 Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, 5 Killer Coffee Co, 6 Rag & Famish Hotel, 7 Shaw and Partners Financial Services, 8 Club Marine, 9 Lazarus Capital Partners, 10 Vaikobi.
Progress top-10 points in the Sixt Spring championship & Mondiale VGL Season Point Score are: 14 The Kitchen Maker, 15 Yandoo, 17 Club Marine, 19 Killer Coffee Co & Smeg, 23 Lazarus Capital Partners & Vaikobi, 28 Balmain, 29 Rag & Famish Hotel, 30 Thurlow Fisher Lawyers.
The ‘Royale’ spectator ferry will follow the racing on Sunday, departing Double Bay Wharf at 2:15pm, allowing patrons to enjoy drinks and snacks from the on-board bar while following the fleet. If unable to board the spectator ferry, the professional SailMedia Livestream team will capture all the action, featuring three cameras, including a drone, mounted camera, and commentary team POV camera.
SailMedia’s coverage provides viewers with close-up racing action, the beauty of the harbour and the city, and expert commentary from former competitors situated on the Camera Cat – in the midst of all the racing action. The link to Sunday’s SailMedia coverage is http://youtube.com/video/7OOhx8kN1Sc/livestreaming.
Source: Frank Quealey – Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.
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