Right to the wire

Andy Rice watched the dramatic final race of the unofficial Skiff World Championship in Sydney

American Skiff winners - Howie Hamlin's General Electric

When Iain Murray describes the final heat of this year’s JJ Giltinan Trophy as the most exciting skiff race he has ever witnessed, it means something. As the man who won this prestigious event six times on the trot in the late 70s and early 80s aboard a series of skiffs sponsored by the Color 7 television station, Murray is a living legend in these circles.

But yesterday it was a trio of Americans led by helmsman Howie Hamlin who stole the trophy from under the noses of the predominantly Australian fleet. It was only the second time in the JJ Giltinan's long history that a non-Aussie had won the series, the other time being Britain's Tim Robinson in 1999.

When the 25 boats left the beach at Double Bay for the 2.30 pm start near Bradley's Head, any one of four teams had a realistic chance of victory. Defending champions Rag & Famish led by the young John Harris looked the best bet but he had a terrible first beat and looked out of the contest at the first windward mark.

"We gave them a bit too much start," admitted Harris. "We didn't get off the line too badly but after 40 seconds we got stuck above the world's biggest pincher and below the world's biggest reacher. Those White Stuff guys were going pretty quick and reached over the top of us, and we got spat out the back. We couldn't tack because of some other turkey, so we rounded about 12th, maybe worse."

But it was a long race that took the fleet around the Harbour in testing conditions that got as high as 17 knots at times. Derwent Racing, helmed by Chris Nicholson’s ex-front hand in the 49er, Daniel Phillips, rounded the first mark in second - a long way behind Rob Greenhalgh on RMW Marine. But more importantly he was ahead of the other contenders for the title. For a new team Derwent were showing the other crews just what they might be capable of when they have had a few more months' practice together, but some bad shift work saw them drop back in the pack.

The Americans on General Electric climbed to second, never posing a threat to the super-quick RMW who extended their lead, but they looked good for the overall title. Then the double-whammy of a bad gennaker take-down plus Rag & Famish hooking into a useful left-hand shift in Rose Bay saw the tables turn on Hamlin, and now there was just a point or so in it. With places changing frequently in the shifty, unpredictable breeze it was too close to call.

At the finish, Hamlin crossed and looked just behind him to see which of Sunday Telegraph or Rag & Famish crossed next. It was Sunday Telegraph by a second or so, a matter of three feet - the Americans had won it by a whisker.

The crew with the oldest combined age had won the event. Hamlin, the 48-year-old who won the 505 World Championship three years ago, was ecstatic. "It's unbelievable, my senses are fried right now. I was pretty calm during the race because I said what will be will be, but once we crossed the line the emotions kicked in, in a big way.

"I thought this was a regatta we could win one day, but I thought it would take a lot more effort, I thought it would take a lot longer."

It was the first regatta forward hand Trevor Baylis had sailed with Hamlin and middleman Mike Martin, Hamlin's 505 Worlds-winning crew. It has been quite a remarkable few months for Baylis, who won the International 14 Worlds in Bermuda crewing for Zach Berkowitz back in November. For a nation that has no real track record in skiff racing, the United States suddenly holds two of the most prestigious skiff titles.

Hamlin paid tribute to his front man. "Trevor added a lot to the programme. He's very good at speed and he's good at setting up the boat. He’s extremely aggressive on the boat too, which is a challenge because that's the complete opposite to me. It was a challenge managing the personalities and making sure we came together as a team, but there's enough respect for everybody to make sure that it works."

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