18ft Skiff Sixt Spring Championship & Club Championship continues
by Frank Quealey 23 Oct 15:43 NZDT
27 October 2024
After being battered by a 20-25 knot southerly wind on Sydney Harbour last Sunday, the Australian 18 Footers League fleet returns to the harbour waters again next Sunday to contest Race 2 of the Sixt Spring Championship and Mick Scully Memorial Trophy.
An early forecast indicated a far more friendly 14 knots breeze from the north-east.
Whatever conditions eventuate, last Sunday's very impressive Race 1 winner Rag & Famish Hotel (Harry Price, Max Paul, Finn Rodowicz) will find it much more difficult over the 3-buoys course next Sunday as she will have to give at least 2mins start to every other boat in the fleet.
Under the series rules, each race winner is penalised 3mins for the following race. Second placing penalty is 2mins and third placing is a 1min penalty.
It's a system that goes back over the 90-year history of 18 footer racing at the League and is designed to provide a 'winning chance' for EVERY boat in the fleet, so long as she performs up to the expectations of her allotted handicap.
Action, spectacle and competitive racing has been the reason for the success of the 18s as a spectator-friendly class for more than 130 years and the League's present administrators are determined to uphold the tradition.
Adding to the present racing, there is NO discard in the Sixt Spring Championship.
Trying to gauge the likely performance of most teams next Sunday is difficult, based on what we saw in Race 1, but there were some brief bright spots for a few teams despite their final placing.
Two obvious teams, Lazarus (Tom Cunich) and Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell) were impressing and will be competitive but also have to overcome their respective handicap penalties for finishing second and third last Sunday.
Others to show enough to be a possible winner are Burrawang-Young Henrys (Simon Nearn), Balmain (Henry Larkings), Smeg (Nathan McNamara) and the new The Kitchen Maker (:achlan Steel).
Another strong contender is the defending champion Sixt team which is led by 17-year-old Jacob Maarks, who is returning to join Alex Marinelli and Matt Doyle, on Sunday after missing Race 1 due to completing his HSC college exams.
Balmain's skipper Henry Larkings, talking about last Sunday's race, "It was a tough first week for us, big winds and only our second time out together as a team."
"We have a new member on the team, with Tom Grimes on the sheet. We are looking forward to this new combination, and keen to draw on Tom's match racing skills."
Looking beyond the Spring Championship, "The calendar this year looks great, specifically the Australian Championship in Queensland. It will be great to travel with the fleet for more open water style racing."
"Of course, we are also very excited to be partnered again with Balmain. Their ongoing support is unreal. It's incredible to have a sponsor who comes down each week to the club to watch us race."
Henry, specifically, wanted to make sure that his following comment is included here. "Also, it seems even the ladies in the boat park are cheering orange. Last Sunday, while rigging the boat, one even asking for Flynn's number and a ride. Could explain why Flynn was so distracted last weekend."
There is another level of interest for the TV and on-the-water spectator fleet as the MarkSetBot robotic sailing buoys will be used as mark rounding buoys for the first time in a 3-buoys race.
They are self-propelled and GPS technology to zero in on a specific location and hold the position, without anchors, until instructed to move.
They should be a great benefit to future 3-buoys racing.
The club's regular spectator ferry will follow Sunday's race, leaving Double Bay Public Wharf at 2pm and SailMedia will livestream all the action for those who can't make it out on the ferry.