Lining up for the Interdominions

Annual Kiwi v Aussie 12ft skiff dust-up due in January

The Harsco Infrastructure 53rd 12ft Skiff Interdominions on Moreton Bay will be hosted by the Brisbane 18 footers in January.

Up to 40 skiffs from Queensland, New South Wales and New Zealand are expected to attend this year’s regatta. It will be high performance sailing at its best, with current Interdominion Champion Nick Press of Australia looking to win it four years in a row

Harsco Infrastructure is proudly supporting the event. Harsco Infrastructure is the world’s leading access, formwork and industrial maintenance service provider, the combination of five long established Harsco companies: SGB and Hunnebeck in Europe, the Middle and Far East, Bell Scaffolding in Australia, Patent in North America and Esco in South America.

Racing in Queensland and New South Wales has been close this season with a number of competitive crews on the water in the lead up to the event looking forward to taking on the New Zealand crews. All the skiffs will be looking forward to stretching their legs in the consistent breeze and open space of the bay in what will be a strongly contested regatta.

Among the teams there is a strong line up from New Zealand with eight boats competing including Alex Vallings, a past three three time winner, owner of C-tech and an active 18ft Skiff sailor, plus six time winner Tim Bartlett.

There will be 10-15 skiffs from Sydney including: 18ft skiff sailor, current champion and three in-a-row Nick Press, and Brett Hobson, the 2009 winner.

Nine boats are also coming from Brisbane including Michael Spies, a former JJ Giltinan winner and Rolex Sydney Hobart winner.

So the fleet is strong this year, with a number of other sailors who could win it, from both sides of 'the ditch'.

The trophies up for grabs include the Silasec Trophy for the overall champion, the Don Brooke Trophy for the winning Australian or New Zealand team and the Miner’s Trophy for the Underall champion, who demonstrates the most spectacular and consistent capsizing through the event.

Starting from humble beginnings, the 12ft skiff has grown and endured to become one of the last true development classes racing today. With only nine class rules limiting hull size and weight at 45kgs, sailors are free to create and race the boat that they want. The result of this is an extreme 12ft boat that regularly becomes airborne under the power of its massive spinnaker.

The racing will start on 4 January from the Darling Point Sailing Squadron at Manly Boat Harbour.