2025 16ft Skiff Australian Championships update after 4 heats
by Adam Lucius 8 Jan 12:23 NZDT
4-11 January 2025
2025 16ft Skiff Australian Championships © Promocean Media
Modern Construction Concepts are daring to dream about pulling off one of the more remarkable Australian 16ft Championship victories after lighting up the first four heats of the nationals in Hervey Bay.
Skipper Kurt Hansen and crew Jackson Cranfield and Chris Williams have guided the Manly boat to three seconds and a first to hold down the provisional lead at the midway point of an intriguing regatta on the Fraser Coast.
The fleet has been dished up a variety of conditions, but Hansen and his team have taken it all in their stride to put together a string of podium finishes. While there is a long way to go - five heats to be exact - before a winner is crowned on Saturday evening, MCC is clearly the boat to beat.
It's hard to believe the regatta leaders have only sailed together a handful of times after Hansen ended a five-year exile from the class just a few months ago. "We're just getting better with every race and the boat is going like an absolute freight train," an excited Hansen said. "It's quite easy to make the right calls when you've got good boat speed. "This is our first season (together) and my first time back sailing in quite a few years, but we're really starting to get the hang of it. "We're starting to gel as a team and figure out how everyone operates. "It's amazing to think how quickly and how well it's all come together."
But the 27-year-old has seen enough at Hervey Bay to know to take nothing for granted. The championships have thrown up four different winners across the four heats and there are threats throughout the fleet. Previous nationals winner Imagine Signage (Nathan Wilmot) and Moonen Yachts (Daniel Turner) sit second and third respectively on the overall pointscore, with defending champion Bosker Build (Sarah Lee) fourth. With a drop to be applied after heat six, the jockeying for positions will be intense when racing resumes after Wednesday's lay day.
Lee believes Bosker - the best-placed St George boat - can have a say in the final placed despite being well behind the leaders. "We are still in good spirits despite not quite getting the results we know we can achieve,' she said. "We're still in the running for a podium finish and will keep up the positivity. It's not over until it's over but MCC is clearly killing it and they're proving very hard to beat."
Hansen said: "It's not simple sailing up here. It hasn't been a one-way track. "We thought it would be a simple sea breeze every day, but we've had a lot of variety and that's made it quite interesting. "We're very happy but there's a long way to go and we're trying not to get ahead of ourselves."
Asked what it would mean if they could retain pole position and take out the regatta, he said: "It would be amazing to do it against a red-hot fleet. "Jackson and Chris have put so much time and money into this boat and it would mean a lot for them to get their hands on the title."
Manly boats hold down six of the top seven spots, with only Bosker breaking up the monopoly. Manly's Red Concrete (James Downey) sits second on the handicap pointscore, behind Belmont's New Era Technology.
St George boats Wichard Pacific (John Jefferson), Toogara (Tom Clout) fill the next two places.
Full results here