The Shaw and Partners Financial Services team of Jim Colley, Charlie Wyatt and Tom Quigley, took out the opening race of the Australian 18 Footers League’s 2022-23 season when it came from behind to win Race 1 of the 18ft Spring Championship, in a thrilling finish, on Sydney Harbour today.
Shaw and Partners won the 3-buoys style race by just 7s from Lazarus (Marcus Ashley-Jones, Keagan York and Joel Turner) with Yandoo (John Winning, Fang Warren and Josh Porebski) only a further 8s back in third place.
Burrawang-Young Henrys (Simon Nearn) finished in fourth place ahead of Smeg (Michael Coxon) and The Oak Double Bay-4 (Alex Marinelli).
A fleet of 15 boats faced the starter for the race, which was sailed in a 10-12knot Easterly breeze with the back marker Smeg leading the fleet on the first windward leg to the 3-buoys mark rounding in Rose Bay.
With Smeg required to go to the furthest mark, Burrawand-Young Henrys grabbed a narrow lead from Birkenhead Point Marina (Kirk Mitchell) with Yandoo and Smeg close behind.
John Winning’s team had Yandoo showing the best downwind speed and at the end of the triangle had opened up a break of nearly 30s over Lazarus, followed by Smeg, Burrawang-Young Henrys and Birkenhead Point Marina.
The following work back to the top set of marks in Rose Bay developed into a close battle between Yandoo and Lazarus with the latter reducing Yandoo’s lead back to just 10s as spinnakers were set for the long downwind leg back to the bottom mark off Kurraba Point.
Shaw and Partners began to edge her way closer to the leaders and was up into third place.
Once again, Yandoo showed better pace downwind and was back out to a 25s lead over Lazarus as the fleet headed to Rose Bay for the final time.
This time, both Yandoo and Lazarus had to go the furthest mark while the third placed Shaw and Partners would gain a slight advantage by having to go to the middle of the three marker buoys.
It was the deciding factor in the race as Shaw and Partners continued to gain on the two leaders and at Rose Bay had grabbed a narrow lead from Lazarus, which had again showed more upwind speed over Yandoo.
As Shaw and Partners and Lazarus raced under spinnakers from Rose Bay to the finishing line off Clark Island, only a few seconds separated the pair and the final result was up in the air until the last 50 metres when the Jim Colley-led Shaw and Partners completed a successful quick gybe to take the narrow victory.
It was an excellent start to the season for the spectator fleet and more exciting racing is expected to come over the next 3-4 weeks as the new boats and last season’s Giltinan champion Andoo join the fleet.
Today’s result sheet is attached, along with images from the race.
The 7-race Spring Championship has a cumulative, NO DROP pointscore, with the 2022-23 champion not being determined until after Race 7 on Sunday, November 20.
Spectators can follow the action on board the club’s spectator ferry, as they have done for the past 87 years, which leaves Double Bay Wharf alongside the clubhouse at 2pm.
Booking online through the club’s website www.18footers.com is essential, https://18footers.com/18-
For anyone who can’t make it out onto the water, the League’s live broadcast team will be out on Sydney Harbour to capture all the action. Live streaming is available at www.18footers.com by clicking on the ’18 Footers TV’ link.
For all the club’s racing and up-to-date news:
Club Website www.18footers.com
Twitter @18skiff
Instagram @18skiff
Facebook International 18ft Skiff
For anyone who wants to take a look at Sail Media’s action videos from the 2021-22 season, including the 2022 JJ Giltinan Championship, go to www.18footers.comand click on the ’18 Footers TV’ link.
Frank Quealey
Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.