Close finish

18ft skiff racing resumes on Sydney Harbour

Following the JJ Giltinan International Championship which concluded last Sunday, club racing returned to the Australian 18 Footers League today with the staging of the W.C. 'Trappy' Duncan Memorial Trophy Handicap on Sydney Harbour.

While most expected the excitingly close racing of the international regatta to be replaced by less exciting racing the truth was that the finish in the 'Troppy' Duncan Trophy had spectators cheering from the ferry as the first three boats crossed the finishing line only 9 seconds apart.

When Rag & Famish Hotel established a big early lead it looked as though the race was over. Even after rounding the final buoy it appeared as though The Rag would hold on comfortably, but strong finishes by Belle Property and Fisher & Paykel saw one of the best finishes of the season.

The young Belle crew actually grabbed a narrow lead near the finish but the more experienced Rag & Famish team just managed to hit back almost as the pair crossed the line.

The winning margin of 8secs seemed hard to believe as spectators on the ferry were equally divided as to which skiff had won the race.

Results:

Pos	Boat	Elapsed Time	Season Points
1	Rag & Famish Hotel	01:26:16	207 (1st)
2	Belle Property	01:26:24	431
3	Fisher & Paykel	01:26:25	364
4	Ssangyong Yandoo		245 (2nd)
5	Omega Smeg		260 (3rd)
6	Club Marine		328
7	Computer Associates		271
8	Maytag		397
9	Rosemount		459
10	Team Morrison		261
11	Asko Appliances		364
12	Aristocrat		605
13	Churchill's Sports Bar	Non-starter	287
14	Casio Seapathfinder	Non-starter	341
15	Panasonic	Non-starter	275
16	AAPT	Non-starter	597
17	CST Composites	Non-starter	441
18	Team Pomfret	Non-starter	310
19	SX Projects	Non-starter	422