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

Credits: Shot & Edited by Sprott Media instagram.com/sprottmedia/ Race commentary by Sail Media Words by Frank Quealey Race Article: After last Sunday's opening race of the season had to be abandoned when 30-knot Westerly winds swept across the course, racing finally got underway 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 today. Conditions were far different to last week's Westerly storm; the fleet was greeted by a brilliant Sydney Harbour Nor'Easter, but if the teams thought it was going to be much easier then they were in for a shock as the wind was rarely below 20-knots with a choppy sea. Tough for the competitors but some wonderful action-packed speed sailing for spectators as the fleet raced down wind at speeds of up to 30-knots by the winner Yandoo, skippered by the Giltinan world champion, Tom Needham. Needham, Miles Davey and Lewis Brake gave a masterclass of heavy weather 18 footer racing in Yandoo to take out Race 1 of the Club Championship by a convincing margin of 1m41s Lazarus Capital Partners, which also showed enough to suggest another big season ahead for the team. In a battle of attrition, Sixt (Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli and Rasmus Rosenglen) survived the conditions to finish in third place, 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 place. Follow our Socials: instagram.com/18skiff/ instagram.com/australian18footers/ 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

SIXT Spring Championship, Race 1 Major Arthur Frizelle Trophy 12 October 2025 - Sydney Harbour *Disclaimer - No sailors were seriously injured It was an unfortunate opening to the Australian 18 Footers League's 2025-26 summer season today when strong westerly winds, gusting to more than 30 knots, forced the club to abandon Race 1 of the SIXT Spring 18ft skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour. Eleven of the fourteen teams entered for the race attempted to reach the start in the dreadful conditions that prevailed and only three were able to cross the start line after a 30 minutes delay. It was a wonderful effort by the three teams. Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich, Marc Chapon, Tim Westwood), Rag & Famish Hotel (Ben Crafoord, Ryan Ewings, Max Nearn) and Club Marine (Emma Rankin, Brandon Buyink, Jed Cruikshank) all survived long enough to cross the start line but it was soon obvious that it was going to be impossible for an 18 to sail the course and the race officials quickly abandoned the race. Despite the conditions, the Lazarus Capital Partners team showed great skill and a ton of determination and actually completed one lap of what would have been the shortened course. As champion heavy weather 18 footer sailor David Witt once remarked, "never give up just because it's really strong wind; test how far you can go because you might need to know when it really counts in a major championship". While the Lazarus team gave an excellent exhibition in the conditions and look headed for a very successful campaign over the coming months, there were two other great efforts by The Rag and Club Marine teams. The Rag & Famish Hotel's three crew members were racing for the first time together and only Max Nearn has had a full season in the 18s prior to today's race. Each of the three have strong bios and are expected to perform well in the rookie season, but today's effort was more than most onlookers would have expected from a 'rookie' team in their first race. Third congratulations to the Emma Rankin-led Club Marine team. Emma, in her third season, continues to show her grit and determination and this season has a team which will give her the opportunity to show her true skill. Credits: Shot and edited by Sprott Media https://www.instagram.com/sprottmedia/ Race commentary and photo used in thumbnail by Sail Media Words by Frank Quealey Follow our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/18skiff/ https://www.instagram.com/australian18footers/ 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

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 Music by Inaudio Editing and Footage by Sprott Media Livestream by 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 Voice over script - Frank Quealey Editing and footage - Sprott Media Music - Inaudio FPV Pilot - Aleksei Tatarnikov

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 Editing and footage by Sprott Media Livestream footage by Sail Media Music by Inaudio