While Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Nathan Ellis on board Fiat could do no better than fourth in the final race of the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship yesterday, they already had however secured the title after Saturday’s race 6. Second overall went to the young Gotta Love It 7 crew of Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Robert Bell while John Harris, Craig Ferris and Chris Cleary (+ stand in Dave Ewings) finished third in Rag & Famish Hotel.

In yesterday’s final race which was sailed on Sydney Harbour, the fleet finally got to use their #2 rigs for the first time since race 1 when an 18-knot southerly wind greeted them at the start. In a close race to the Clarke Island windward mark Gotta Love It 7 grabbed a narrow lead from Asko Appliances (Hugh Stodart) which set the stage for a great dog fight between the pair until misfortune struck the Asko boys late in the race.

The match racing skills of young Jarvin and their hard-driving spinnaker runs enabled Gotta Love It 7 retain a narrow lead until the final run to Obelisk Bay. On this tight run Asko had taken a narrow lead before the skiff ran aground – breaking a centerboard and forcing a retirement. From that point Gotta Love It 7 was untroubled to go on to a 1 min 51 secs win over Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris) with Howie Hamlin’s Pegasus Racing a further 1 min 46 secs back in third place. While no match for the winner, these two skiffs had also produced a race-long battle.

SLAM-Winning Appliances JJ Giltinan International 18ft Skiff Championship - Final Positions: 1 AUS Fiat 6 2 1 2 1 5 4 21 15pts; 2 AUS Gotta Love It 7 5 5 3 1 6 4 1 25 19; 3 AUS Rag & Famish Hotel 8 33 4 8 7 1 2 63 30; 4 AUS Asko Appliances 4 13 5 4 4 3 33 66 33; 5 USA Pegasus Racing 13 6 6 3 5 33 3 69 36; 6 AUS appliancesonline.com.au 11 7.2 2 5 13 2 10 50.2 37.2; 7 AUS Club Marine 3 1 7 14 23 6 8 62 39; 8 NZL CT Sail Battens 9 33 10 7 2 7 5 73 40; 9 AUS Macquarie Real Estate 1 10 15 13 10 18 6 73 55; 10 AUS Active Air-2UE 2 12 9 11 12 21 12 79 58