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MERCHANDISE SUCCESS
Cressida has been selling SLAM produced merchandise for the 2012 Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship and has been very successful. Not hard to see why her technique has been a hit with male purchasers.
THURLOW FISHER LAWYERS FLYING HIGH
The Thurlow Fisher Lawyers crew of Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas were flying high in the 25 knot southerly winds that battered Sydney Harbour during Race 3 of the 2012 Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship.
The Australian champions defeated defending champion and series leader Gotta Love It 7 (Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Scott Babbage) by just 8s in a thrilling 18ft Skiff race which had spectators marvelling at the skills of these champion teams.
The Thurlow Fisher Lawyers team were literally 'flying' on the 2-sail tight run across the harbour from Rose Bay on the south side to Athol Bay on the north. (see the photo below).
HARBOUR 18 FOOTER FANS
Sydnay Harbour on a sunny Sunday afternoon watching the world's best 18ft Skiff teams racing for the Giltinan Championship. Is there anything better to do ??? Obviously not for these young ladies on board the 'Highlander' cruiser following their favourite teams during Race 2 of the 63rd Giltinan Championship regatta.
RABBITOHS CHASE ANOTHER GILTINAN TROPHY
James J. Giltinan was responsible for introducing the sport of Rugby League football into Australia more than 100 years ago, then, as Secretary of the Australian 18 Footers League, introduced the JJ Giltinan Worlds Championship Trophy to 18ft Skiff Racing in 1938.
Rugby League’s most famous club, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, won the first competition in 1908 and have since gone on to win the Giltinan Shield 20 times - more than any other club in the League’s history.
While Rugby League’s Giltinan Shield has represented the highest honour a club could achieve each season, the sailing equivalent (Giltinan Championship) represents the pinnacle of world 18ft Skiff Racing.
Now the Rabbitohs club, in association with its sponsors De’Longhi and Kenwood, has its sights set on winning the sailing Giltinan Trophy with two high tech racing machines ready to tackle the Championship, which begins on Sydney Harbour on Saturday.
De’Longhi-Rabbitohs, skippered by Simon Nearn, and Kenwood-Rabbitohs, skippered by Brett Van Munste, will each represent Australia in the regatta.
30 teams representing USA, New Zealand and UK, along with Australian teams from NSW and Queensland will contest the championship.
SAM’S THE MAN
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff champion Seve Jarvin (Gotta Love It 7) is always quick to acknowledge the talents of his long time for’ard hand Sam Newton, with whom he has won three Giltinan Championships, for not only his skills on the water but his expertise in preparing the skiff for racing.
Sam and Seve have sailed together since 2001 in everything from a range of match racing boats, to 18ft Skiffs and yachts.
Their record includes four Australian Match Racing championships, two Australian 18ft Skiff Championships and numerous state titles as well as their three Giltinan victories.
Seve says “Sam has a great feel for a boat and knows how to get it going very fast”.
“He has an easy going personality and we get on so well together. We are best mates”.
The pair, along with the extremely experienced and talented sheet hand Scott Babbage, present an outstanding team which combines so well in all conditions and under pressure from their championship rivals.
Sam’s value to the Gotta Love It 7 team was clearly evident recently when he missed four races during the Australian Championship on Sydney Harbour.
Gotta Love It 7 still managed to finish third in the Nationals behind Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon) and Smeg (Nick Press) and performed well, but the return of Sam in Race 5 was obviously a strong reason for the team’s awesome 1m43s win over Thurlow Fisher Lawyers.
Sam’s absence on Gotta Love It 7 during the Nationals was brought about by an adventurous trip he took with his father, Greg.
They contested a 14,500km/29 days Rally across three continents from London to Cape Town.
Their journey in a 1980 Holden Commodore car took them through 14 countries like Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and Tanzania, just to name a few.
Later this year, Sam is rumoured to be heading off to the US where he will join Oracle Racing’s Sailing Team in defence of the 34th America’s Cup.
Along with Sam’s busy sailing schedule, he runs a very successful yachting business, trading under the name “All Marine” (www.allmarine.com.au).
Seve, Sam and Scott are strongly favoured to defend their Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship title in Gotta Love It 7, ahead of a 30-boat fleet on Sydney Harbour.
The warm up Invitation Race will be sailed on Friday, with the championship’s first race to be sailed on Saturday.
The seven-race series will conclude on Sunday 26 February.
NEW ZEALAND’S 18ft SKIFF CHALLENGE
New Zealand’s 18ft Skiff sailors will make their strongest challenge in recent years when they contest the JJ Giltinan Championship on Sydney Harbour from 17-26 February.
Since the time James J. Giltinan first conceived the idea of holding a world’s championship for 18ft Skiffs, New Zealand has not only been a regular and successful competitor in the event, but has also been a leading innovator in the class.
The most famous of these Kiwi innovators is Bruce Farr, whose designs dominated the class during the 1970s, but others to stamp their name on innovations are the Mander brothers (Peter and Graham), Jack Logan and Russell Bowler.
New Zealand were represented from the first regatta on Sydney Harbour in 1938 then held and won the 1939 event (Manu, skippered by Geo. Chamberlain) at Auckland.
Jack Logan was next in the 1950 series in a radically designed snub nosed skiff named Komutu before the Manders (Intrigue) made a sensational breakthrough with the first trapeze men to become the first two-time winners of the championship in the 1952 and 1954 events.
Although they were always competitive the only New Zealand winner between 1954 and the early 1970s was Bern Skinner, who took the 1960 series in Surprise.
The most successful New Zealand 18ft Skiff designer came into the 18s in 1969/1970 when Bruce Farr boats represented USA, UK and Australia as well as New Zealand.
Don Lidgard took the 1972 series for New Zealand with Smirnoff and Terry Mc Dell (Travelodge New Zealand) also won for New Zealand in 1974. Both in Farr designed boats. Bob Holmes (Travelodge in 1973) and Dave Porter (KB in 1975) also won for Australia in Farr designed boats.
Russell Bowler was the next Kiwi to progress the evolution in design with the super lightweight hull construction of Benson & Hedges for the 1977 regatta at Auckland.
Escalating costs over the next two decades has seen the Kiwi challenge suffer in comparison to the earlier years, although the deeds of skippers such as Chris Skinner, Phil Airey and Scott Kennedy can’t be underestimated as they have put up some excellent performances against the might of Australian, USA and UK teams.
Hard work and dedication by Graham Catley and Alex Vallings has seen a heartening revival in the class in New Zealand. Only one month ago, Alex Vallings won the 2012 Mark Foy Trophy regatta at Auckland in his brand new C-Tech skiff - one of two hulls built by Van Munster Boatbuilders late in 2011 for both Alex and Graham (Maersk Line).
The New Zealanders have six boats (including the two new skiffs) entered for the 2012 Giltinan:
C-Tech (Alex Vallings), Yamaha (David McDiarmid), Maersk Line (Graham Catley), Stunt Academy (Chris Hirst), Cutting Shapes (Ed Ross) and Bridge Marina Travelift (Kez Cameron).
Graham Catley, who was also a crew member with Russell Bowler on Benson & Hedges, looks back at the struggle the Kiwis have had since the 1980s but is confident that the present position of the class in New Zealand suggests it will only get stronger in the future.
“The New Zealand fleet went into decline and subsequently died out when the Grand Prix 18 circuit effectively made the cost of competition prohibitive for our participation”, he said.
“Phil Airey relocated back to Auckland and teamed with Alex Vallings in 2003, then I imported three more boats in 2005”.
“We began to refurbish the boats and commence local racing on a regular basis. We had three boats at the 2007 Giltinan Championship, which was the beginning of the renaissance in the New Zealand fleet”.
“In 2011 our effort intensified with the launching of the two new boats for Alex and me, which has brought our fleet up to nine good boats for regular club racing”.
“Alex and I have fitted our boats with strong participation from New Zealand sail and spar makers. Alex’s win in the recent Mark Foy Trophy international regatta gives an early indication that the New Zealand fleet continues to grow in maturity and competitiveness”, Catley concluded.
The New Zealand resurgence can only be good for the class as it continues its international progression.
GLAMOUR ON THE SPECTATOR FERRY
The Australian 18 Footers League spectator ferry follows all the 18ft Skiff Racing on Sydney Harbour. It has been doing it for more than 70 years.
For most of those 70 years the crowd was more interested in betting on their favourite team, but now the ferry has an appeal to all ages and all tastes.
To see more of the crowd on yesterday's ferry go to 'photos' link and click on the 'general' page.
We'll continue to publish some photos after each race. Hope you like them.
'THE RAG' TEAM CONTINUES THE CULTURE
It’s no surprise the Rag & Famish Hotel 18ft Skiff team is continuing to grow into one of the top competitors for the 2012 Giltinan Championship, which will be sailed on Sydney Harbour from 17-26 February.
The three members of the team are not only experienced 18ft Skiff sailors, but each has family members who are part of 18 Footers culture.
Skipper Jack Macartney was part of the 2007 Australian Championship-winning Macquarie Real Estate team and is presently having his second season as skipper in the class.
His father Bill Macartney was the driving force behind Grand Prix Sailing in the 1990s and is the man responsible for the most spectacular 18ft Skiff videos ever seen.
Sheet hand Mark Kennedy won the 2000 World 29er Championship and, since coming to Australia three years ago from New Zealand, has been skippering his own skiff before joining ‘The Rag’ team this season.
Mark’s brother Scott has been a top New Zealand 18ft Skiff skipper for several seasons (although he is not sailing an 18 this season). His father Lindsay was also a top 18ft Skiff skipper in the late 1970s and represented New Zealand at Giltinan Championship regattas.
Third member of the team is for’ard hand Peter Harris, who has crewed with top teams for nine seasons and won the NSW Championship in 2009.
Peter’s brother is John Harris who has won Giltinan and Australian championships in the 18s and was 2008 World Moth champion.
The combination came together only in October but have already won two of the eleven races sailed so far, and figured prominently to finish 6th in the NSW Championship.
In the inaugural 3-Buoys Challenge Series, they finished 2nd behind the 2011 Giltinan Champion Gotta Love It 7 team – losing only to ‘7’ on a count back.
Their 3-year-old Rag & Famish Hotel boat was brought up to current specification only six months ago when class builder Van Munster Boats added a new deck to the existing hull.
They recently added a revolutionary new #1 rig, in conjunction with Bruce Hollis from Ullman Sails.
“We assessed the current developments at length with reference to everything getting stiffer and bigger”, Macartney said.
“We opted to go with a ‘round’ head mainsail as we felt it has potential for better end-plating (or air flow) than the typical bat wing. Like all things in the skiffs the development requires time on the water to fine tune the rig and find the sweet spots. We are starting to get there”.
“Working with Bruce is excellent, he is not about quantity but rather quality. His input this season has been great and we have a huge amount of confidence in his knowledge and ideas”.
“We are improving each week. The 18s are very much about time-on-the-water, building your team and learning to tune the boat properly, which is where our minds are now. We have a great boat and platform to work off and we’re looking forward to the rest of the Aussies and, of course, the JJs”, Macartney added.
The Rag & Famish Hotel sponsorship also has a strong family association with the 18s.
Peter Calligeros has continued the sponsorship started by his late father George in the 1990s and which produced the 2001 Giltinan Championship winner.
It would be a great result if the Rag & Famish Hotel team could win Race One of the upcoming Giltinan Championship as the winner also has the name added to the George Calligeros Trophy.
