After last Sunday’s opening race of the season had to be abandoned due to 30-knot Westerly winds, racing finally commenced when the Australian 18 Footers League staged Race 1 of its Club Championship and Race 2 of the SIXT 2025 Spring Championship, for the Alf Beashel Memorial Trophy, on Sydney Harbour.
Conditions were far different from last week’s storm; the fleet was greeted by a brilliant Nor’Easter, but competitors faced winds that rarely dipped below 20-knots with a choppy sea. This made for challenging conditions but provided spectators with thrilling speed sailing as the fleet raced downwind at speeds of up to 30-knots, led by Yandoo, skippered by Giltinan world champion Tom Needham.
Needham, along with Miles Davey and Lewis Brake, delivered a masterclass in heavy weather 18 footer racing, securing Race 1 of the Club Championship by a convincing margin of 1m41s over Lazarus Capital Partners, who also showed promise for a strong season ahead.
In a battle of attrition, Sixt (Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli and Rasmus Rosenglen) managed to finish third, 10m26s behind Lazarus. The only other teams to complete the course were Fisher & Paykel (Brett Van Munster, Tom Quigley and Logan Radford) in fourth place and Club Marine (Emma Rankin, Jack Taylor and Jed Cruikshank) in fifth.
Race 2 of the SIXT 2025 Spring Championship was sailed concurrently with the Club Championship, resulting in a win for Lazarus Capital Partners, who defeated Yandoo, Sixt, Fisher & Paykel, and Club Marine after each team’s handicap adjustments.
The race commenced with an even start off Clark Island, with Yandoo, Lazarus, and Balmain (Henry Larkings) all in contention. However, Yandoo quickly demonstrated its dominance, pulling away from Lazarus, Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell), Balmain, and Sixt as the fleet navigated the chop on the way to the Beashel Buoy weather mark.
Yandoo led by one minute from Lazarus, with Vaikobi just 5 seconds further back as they approached the wing mark at Shark Island. With Yandoo accelerating away, the day’s best battle unfolded as Vaikobi edged into second place over Lazarus during a quicker spinnaker set.
However, Lazarus fought back, showcasing impressive downwind speed that prevented Vaikobi from gybing, which allowed Lazarus to reclaim second place while Vaikobi capsized off Shark Island.
Yandoo extended its lead over Lazarus to 1m20s by the end of the first lap off Clark Island, and further pushed it to 1m45s after the second beat to the Beashel Buoy weather mark on the second lap.
Balmain was in third place at the end of the first lap, with Sixt in fourth and Vaikobi trailing behind. On the ensuing spinnaker run down the centre of the course, the SailMedia live stream commentary team captured Yandoo’s downwind speed at 30-knots.
Yandoo’s victory was assured as long as the team could avoid a capsize. After leading by 2m45s at the final weather mark, Yandoo cruised home for a well-deserved win.
Looking ahead, hopefully conditions will be lighter next Sunday, as the new and young teams have had limited opportunity to adjust to their new boats. Today’s result sheet is attached, along with images by SailMedia.
Next Sunday (26 October) will host Race 3 of the SIXT Spring Championship, for the Mick Scully Memorial Trophy. The Australian 18 Footers League’s spectator ferry will follow the race, and SailMedia will livestream all the action from the course.
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