Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

The 2025 Giltinan Trophy world champion Yandoo 18ft skiff team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake are set to add another trophy to their names when they line up next Sunday on Sydney Harbour for the final two races of the NSW Championship. With four consecutive wins for Yandoo going into next Sunday’s racing, the task looks particularly difficult for the major challengers as the early weather predictions indicate bread-and-butter wind strength and direction for the champion Yandoo crew and boat. The only challenger with a slim opportunity of becoming the 2025 NSW 18ft skiff champion is the Balmain team (Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Lachlan Prior), which will need close to a miracle. Looking mathematically at the current total point scores, and making allowance for each team discarding its worst race result to achieve its best seven-race score for a final points score, Yandoo will only need to record a 3rd or 4th place in one of the two races on Sunday to become champion. Yandoo’s present score, including ALL SIX RACES sailed so far, is 11 points and so with even a 4th place finish in one race would finish with a total of 14 points. Balmain’s present BEST FIVE RACES sailed so far is 12 (and includes a throwaway 13th as its other result). Balmain needs two more winning results on Sunday to give it a best possible seven-race score of 14 points. Finishing level with Yandoo on points is no better for Balmain as Yandoo would take the title on count-back with four race wins against what would be AT BEST three wins for Balmain. Regardless of what seems to be an easy overall victory for Yandoo, if the expected conditions do arrive at race time, they will provide on-water spectators and SailMedia livestream video watchers with plenty of action and good fleet racing for the podium placings. Shot and edited by Sprott Media Livestream footage courtesy of Sail Media Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

A double race victory to the Yandoo team of John ‘Herman’ Winning, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake, on Sydney Harbour today, sees the team grab a narrow lead at the half way point in the eight-race NSW 18ft Skiff Championship being conducted by the Australian 18 Footers League. Going into today’s races, Balmain’s team of Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Locky Pryoe held a three point lead over Yandoo but now Yandoo has reversed the positions to lead Balmain by just one point. In today’s first race (Race 3 of the NSW Championship). Yandoo came from behind at the end of the first lap to defeat Balmain by 9s with Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell, Andrew Stephenson, Daniel Barnett) a further 54s back in third place. Rag & Famish Hotel (Ben Crafoord) finished in fourth place ahead of Sixt (Jacob Marks) and Fisher & Paykel (Brett Van Munster). In the later race (Race 5), Yandoo defeated Vaikobi by 42s with Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich, Edoardo Gamba, Benedict McKay) a further 5s back in third place. Balmain came in fourth, followed by Rag & Famish Hotel and Smeg (Ash Rooklyn). The progress points at the half-way stage of the NSW Championship show Yandoo on 9 points, Balmain 10 points, Rag & Famish Hotel 17, Smeg 26, Sixt 28 and Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York) on 29 points. Each race today was sailed in a mainly 10-14 knot SE breeze over a two-lap windward-leeward course and all teams elected to use their #2 rigs in anticipation of stronger winds prevailing for the afternoon. Shot & edited by Sprott Media Livestream footage courtesy of Sail Media Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

After a number of very light wind or extremely strong wind race days so far in the Australian 18 Footers League’s 2025-26 season on Sydney Harbour, today’s Race 6 of the League’s Club Championship was finally expected to produce a more traditional 15-knot North East wind - perfect weather for 18ft skiff racing conditions. That was the expectation, but sadly the ongoing weather situation became even worse than the other race days and the racing was abandoned after the first lap of the three-lap North East course when the wind turned to the west and freshened well beyond the fleet’s ability to continue with their big #1 rigs. Obviously, the point scores remain as they were with Yandoo leading on a total of 20 points. Balmain is in 2nd place with a total of 25, followed by Rag & Famish Hotel and Sixt, equal in 3rd place on 26 points. Other points in the top-10 are, Lazarus Capital Partners and Smeg on 35, Club Marine 36, Shaw and Partners Financial Services 46, Sotheby’s Ballard Property 47 and Fisher & Paykel on 54 points. Prior to the race being abandoned, the race to the weather mark at the Beashel Buoy was close with the consistent Balmain team, led by Henry Larkings, in the early lead from Yandoo (Micah Lane), Sixt (Michael Coxon) and Killer Coffee Co (Steve Thomas). Shot and edited by Sprott Media Livestream footage courtesy of Sail Media Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

We have set up a Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/cw/18FootersLeague Running 18 footer sailing is no small feat. From sails and boat maintenance to safety crews and media coverage, the cost of keeping this unique class alive is enormous. This Patreon gives people a way to directly support the sailors, the teams and the League that make it all possible. By joining, you are not just helping fund the racing, you are buying into a culture built on community and a shared love for 18 footer sailing. Your support helps us keep the boats on the water, tell the stories of our sailors and showcase this incredible sport to the world. Whether you are a lifelong fan, a sailor yourself or someone who simply loves Sydney Harbour, this Patreon is your way to be part of the 18 Footer family. Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond Video by Alex Helsham

18ft SKIFFS - Club Championship Race 6 (Alice Burton Memorial Trophy)

The first two races of the 2025-26 NSW 18ft skiff Championship were conducted by the Australian 18 Footers League in very light Easterly breeze of no more than 9-10knots at any time on Sydney Harbour today and resulted with the Balmain team of Henry Larkings, Charlie Wyatt and Laschlan Pryor taking the overall honours to hold the championship lead after the first day’s racing. In Race 1, Balmain continued last week’s winning form when the team defeated Smeg (Ash Rooklyn, Niall Morrow and Finn Rodowicz) by 37s, with Yandoo (Micah Lane, Fang Warren and Josh Feldmann) a further 39s back in third place. Sixt (Jacob Marks) finished fourth, ahead of The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Hugo Stoner) and Rag & Famish Hotel (Seve Jarvin). In Race 2, Club Marine (Emma Rankin, Aron Everett and Brandon Buyink) gave a brilliant display in the testing, extremely light conditions to defeat a fast-finishing Rag & Famish Hotel (Seve Jarvin, Ryan Ewings and Max Nearn) by 17s, with Race 1 winner Balmain another 10s back in third place. Yandoo came home in fourth place ahead of Sotherby’s Ballard Property (Bec Hancock) and Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York). Emma Rankin’s victory became the second female skipper to win a championship race in the 18s, and the first to win a race in the NSW Championship. Credits Shot and edited by Sprott Media Words by Frank Quealey Livestream footage courtesy of Sail Media Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Balmain (Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Fynn Sprott) won Race 3 of the Australian 18 Footers League’s Club Championship on Sydney Harbour today, but it was Sixt, crewed by Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli and Matt Doyle which won the 2025 SIXT Spring Championship, and Yandoo Trophy. The Balmain combined great crew work with excellent tactics in the testing, tricky and light ENE breeze to take the line honours associated with the Club Championship by 58s from the young rookie Rag & Famish Hotel crew of Ben Crafoord, Ryan Ewings and Max Nearn, with Smeg (Ash Rooklyn, Niall Morrow and Finn Rodowicz a further 23s back in third place. Major event of the day’s racing, however, was Race 6 (the last race) of the SIXT Spring Championship, a handicap held in conjunction with the scratch race. While Smeg won Race 6 from Fisher & Paykel (Brett Van Munster, Tom Quigley and Logan Radford), the overall Spring Championship victory, and $6,000 prizemoney, went to the Sixt team which finished on 22 points after finishing in 7th place today. Runner-up, and winner of $1,200 prizemoney, went to Club Marine (Emma Rankin, Jed Cruikshank and Brandon Buyink) on 26 points, while third place, and prizemoney of $600, was won by Rag & Famish Hotel on 32 points. Credits: Words by Frank Quealey Live Stream Footage by Sail Media Editing by Sprott Media Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

The 2025 JJ Giltinan world champion Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake were faultless in the 20-knot southerly winds which swept across Sydney Harbour today, as they powered their skiff to a brilliant near-all-the-way victory in Race 5 of the Sixt Spring Championship. Sailing together for the first time since their Giltinan triumph back in March (due to sheet hand Fang Warren’s paternity leave) the trio made it look easy as they raced ahead of the fleet for all but a few hundred metres after the first set of 3-buoys rounding marks. The Balmain team of Henry Larkings, Tom Grimes and Lachlan Pryor also gave a wonderful performance as they valiantly chased Yandoo and provided spectators with some brilliant downwind spinnaker action. At the end of the long South course Yandoo crossed the finish line 2m21s ahead of Balmain. The new Shaw and Partners Financial Services skiff (Keagan York, Max Paul and Tom Anderson) finished a further 1.39s back in third place, after having to temporarily use borrowed sails on the day. This team will only get better in the weeks to come. Sixt (Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli and Matt Doyle) was in third place for most of the race before coming home fourth, but the placing was enough for the team to increase their lead in the Spring Championship with only next Sunday’s race still to be sailed. Matt Stenta, who was part of the 2022 Giltinan world champion Andoo team, took over the role as skipper in today’s race, and with Josh McKnight and Jack Taylor, came home in fifth place ahead of Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell, Andrew Stephenson and Pete Nicholson). Credits Words by Frank Quealey Livestream Footage by Sail Media Editing by Sprott Media Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

It was a history-making day for the Australian 18 Footers League on Sydney Harbour today when Tash Bryant became the first female skipper in the club’s 90-year history to skipper the winner of a Club Championship race. Tash, the Australian SailGP tactician, displayed all of her tactical skills in the extremely difficult, light East breeze, which was full of ‘holes’ and regular changes of direction, to lead home the Yandoo team of Tom Needham and Lewis Brake to win the race by 1m2s from Andoo (Seve Jarvin, Jono Whitty, Cameron McDonald). Third place went to the young ‘rookie’ team of Ben Crafoord, Ryan Ewings and Max Nearn, who sailed brilliantly against their more experienced 18 footer teams, to bring Rag & Famish Hotel home just 14s behind Andoo. Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich) stormed home, after a disappointing first lap to finish in fourth place, ahead of Shaw and Partners and Sixt (Jacob Marks) in sixth place. Yandoo’s victory in the Club Championship gives the team a score of 2 points, a four point lead over their nearest rival Lazarus on 6 points. Sixt is 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, on handicap, for the 2025 Spring Championship section of the race gave the victory in Race 4 to Bec Hancock, Cam Walker and Ed Swain on Sotheby’s Ballard Property. Rag & Famish Hotel finished in second place, followed by The Killer Coffee Co, The Kitchen Maker, Smeg and Club Marine. Livestream Footage by Sail Media Edited by Sprott Media Words by Frank Quealey Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Shot and Edited by Sprott Media https://www.instagram.com/sprottmedia/ Words by Frank Quealey Race Commentary by Sail Media Race Sponsor Yandoo Following the drama created by the strong winds on each of the first two race days this season, Race 3 of the SIXT Spring Championship was an opportunity for teams to get their boats on the water in more favourable conditions, but a lack of good breeze which forced a 45mins delay at the start, looked like it may have spoiled the party for both competitors and spectators until a fair breeze prevailed and a great 3-buoys race developed. At the end of the revised 3-lap windward-leeward course, Sixt (Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli, Rasmus Rosengren) crossed the finish line just 3secs ahead of Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell, Andrew Stephenson, Daniel Barnett) with Smeg (Ash Rooklyn, Ricky Bridge, Max Paul) a further 24secs back in third place. Rag & Famish Hotel, with Joel Beashel replacing regular skipper Ben Crafoord, fished in fourth place ahead of Club Marine (Emma Rankin), Sothebys Ballard Properties (Bec Hancock), Balmain (Henry Larkings), Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich), Fisher & Paykel (Brett Van Munster), The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel), Yandoo (Tash Bryant), Gotcha4Life (Kade Morgan), Killer Coffee (Sam Abel) and The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Hugh Stoner). The race produced some very good battles throughout the fleet and highlighted the talent of some of the young skippers and teams presently racing in the League's fleet Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond

Visit www.18footers.com for the very best in 18 foot skiff racing from Sydney Harbour and beyond