7 breezes it

NSW 18ft Skiff Championship sets sail on Sydney Harbour

The Gotta Love It 7 team took out the season’s first championship race with a brilliant victory in Race 1 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.

Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Scott Babbage were superb as they raced away from the highly talented fleet for a 2m54s win.

Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon, Trent Barnabas, Daniel Nixon) finished second with Smeg (Nick Press, Gary Phillips, Dave Ewings), a further 1m2s back in third place.

Sydney City Marine (David Witt) was always in contention for the top placings and came home fourth, ahead of Appliancesonline.com.au (Micah Lane) and Lumix (Jonathan Witty).

18 boats faced the starter, who sent the fleet over the southeast course in a 15-18-knot breeze.

The first windward beat from the start in Taylor Bay across the harbour into Rose Bay was a closely fought battle with the fleet spread wide and on both sides of Shark Island.

Thurlow Fisher Lawyers won out narrowly as the team led by just a few seconds from Appliancesonline, Gotta Love It 7, Coopers62-Rag & Famish Hotel (Jack Macartney), Sydney City Marine and Asko Appliances (Marcus Ashley-Jones).

Coxon and his crew retained the lead down the long spinnaker run to Robertson Point, but Gotta Love It 7 gapped the fleet on the following windward leg back to Clarke Island.

With a lead of 40s and faultless crew work, Team 7 powered away from that point and most spectator interest centred on the race for the minor placings.

Asko Appliances was third at Clarke Island, but a capsize on the next run set the team back several places.

Thurlow Fisher was able to hold off challengers for second place over the remainder of the course despite challenges from Smeg, Sydney City Marine and Appliancesonline.

Many of the new teams suffered from a lack of racing so far this season and will be better for today’s race.

Full results