Rookie win

49er sailor Euan McNicol take fourth heat of the 18ft skiff's Ssangyong JJ Giltinan Trophy on Sydney Harbour

Euan Mc Nicol's Club Marine became the fourth winner from as many races when the skiff took Heat 4 of the Ssangyong International Championship today. On Sydney Harbour the wind was again a light easterly that varied between 6 and 10 knots all day, major shifts and wind holes making for another taxing day for all.

The start saw the Swiss team on CST Switzerland doing a port tack flyer and RMW Marine popping out in front, while Computer Associates and AAPT were OCS. Only Computer Associates went back at the start.

The first beat saw another split in the fleet to the right and left sides and both Club Marine and RMW Marine pulled out in front through good tactics and boat speed. Panasonic with young 20 year old Hermann Winning also looked good. Right up at Shark Island the wind went light and the going again got tricky for all. At the first windward mark the order was Club Marine, followed by Howie Hamlin on Team Pegasus, RMW and then a gap before Panasonic, Casio Seamaster, Omega Smeg and AAPT - all very close together.

On the first downwind leg Club Marine stayed ahead with RMW Marine gybing inside and sailing over Hamlin to take second place. At this stage the course was quite processional and there were no great changes at the bottom leeward mark with Club Marine and RMW consolidating their first and second places.

The second downwind saw Omega Smeg closing up a bit on RMW Marine with Howie Hamlin not far behind. At the second leeward mark rounding, Club Marine rounded easily in first and RMW experienced problems dropping their kite that led to the spinnaker leech tape getting caught on a batten. An enforced capsize to free it meant a loss of four to five places to the defending champions.

The final beat saw Club Marine extend their lead and Omega Smeg and Howie Hamlin tussle it out for second and third. Rookie skipper and 49er sailor McNicol, Steve Jarvin and Tim Austin were brilliant in the light easterly wind as they recorded a 1min 46secs victory. McNicol was a crewmember with John Winning's successful 2000 Giltinan Champion, AMP Centrepoint, and is now having his first season as skipper in the 18s. Daniel Phillips' Omega Smeg finished second 8 seconds ahead of two times Giltinan winner Howie Hamlin.

RMW pushed forward hard to take on Casio and Asko and managed to pip Asko on the line to take fourth place with an almost photofinish climax!

Following today's race Rag & Famish (John Harris) leads the pointscore with 14.0 points, followed by Asko Appliances (Hugh Stodart) and RMW on 19.0 and Club Marine on 22.0.

More photos on the following pages....

Results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
1	Rag & Famish Hotel	John Harris	AUS	1	3	4	6	14
2	Asko Appliances	Hugh Stodart	AUS	2	2	10	5	19
3	RMW Marine	Rob Greenhalgh	UK	8	6	1	4	19
4	Club Marine	Euan Mc Nicol	AUS	5	13	3	1	22
5	Computer Associates	Anthony Young	AUS	7	1	5	12	25
6	Team Pegasus	Howie Hamlin	USA	9	7	6	3	25
7	Maytag	Tony Hannan	AUS	4	8	7	9	28
8	Casio Seatpathfinder	Michael Coxon	AUS	11	11	2	7	31
9	Omega Smeg	Daniel Phillips	AUS	17	5	11	2	35
10	CT Sail Battens	Phil Airey	NZL	12	17	9	8	46
11	Fisher & Paykel	Andrew Cuddihy	AUS	14	9	14	10	48
12	Ssangyong Yandoo	John Winning	AUS	24	4	13	18	59
13	Churchill's Sports Bar	John Sweeny	AUS	10	10	18	22	60
14	AAPT	Sean Langman	AUS	3	22	8	OCS	62
15	SX Projects	Matt Felton	AUS	23	14	12	14	63
16	Belle Property	Micah Lane	AUS	6	15	DSQ/50	16	66
17	Team Morrison	Peter Morrison	AUS	19	18	22	13	72
18	Rosemount	Chris Skinner	NZL	18	24	15	17	74
19	Fat Face	Tim Penfold	UK	16	23	16	24	79
20	Adtec Communications	Jeremy Sharp	AUS	13	DNF	23	15	80
21	GP Covers	Flemming Clausen	DEN	26	16	19	19	80
22	Pegasus Racing	Shark Kahn	USA	15	26	20	21	82
23	Barron & Smithers	Peter Barton	UK	20	21	21	23	85
24	Avaya	Chad Freitas	USA	22	20	24	20	86
25	CST Composites	Chris Dixon	AUS	25	19	17	26	87
26	Team Mclean	Steve Mc Lean	UK	27	25	25	27	104
27	CST Switzerland	Chris Rast	SUI	DNF/29	27	DNF	25	110
28	Panasonic	John Winning Jnr	AUS	21	12	*	11	*