Michael Coxon and last year's championship-winning Fiat have been right in the thick of the race action in Sydney Harbour today with the Australian 18 foot skiff season now firmly underway again.

Michael Coxon and last year's championship-winning Fiat have been right in the thick of the race action in Sydney Harbour today with the Australian 18 foot skiff season now firmly underway again. Today's race is the third of the season which got underway two weeks ago with the Alf Beashel Trophy.

Alf Beashel Trophy - Sunday, 14 October 2007 - Sydney Harbour

The new 18ft Skiff season got off to a great start today with a 12knot North East wind and a 21-boat fleet on hand on Sydney Harbour. The Gotta Love It 7 team, skippered by Seve Jarvin with crew of Sam Newton and Robert Bell, showed they were again going to be a force when they took out the Alf Beashel Trophy by 41secs. Pure Blonde (James Francis) finished second with Southern Cross Constructions (Chris Pomfret) a further 44secs back in third place.

Right from the start Gotta Love It 7 took the lead as the fleet headed for the triple windward marks near the Beashel Buoy. Closely bunched behind the leader were Fiat, Asko Appliances, Rag & Famish Hotel and Active Air-2UE. Nearing the windward marks, Rag & Famish crossed 7 to grab a narrow lead but it was the “C/Red” mark skiffs which came out on top as the fleet headed downwind. Southern Cross Constructions led Maytag which “B/Blue” marker skiffs Gotta Love It 7 and Maytag led the chasers. Fisher & Paykel was fifth, followed by CST Composites, with Rag & Famish (the leading “A/White” marker) seventh just ahead of Fiat.

Pure Blonde gybed inside Southern Cross at the wing mark to take the lead then held her lead at the end of the first lap - but it was now Gotta Love It 7  in second place. 7’s upwind speed was enough to lead narrowly at the 3-buoys windward marks the second time and the pair staged a good duel on the straight run back to the leeward mark. Although Pure Blonde’s crew continued to pressure the Gotta Love It 7 team, the t crew maintained their advantage over the final lap of the course to score a good first up win. Many new teams were having their first race start and once they have gained a little more experience we are in for another great season.

18ft Skiffs - Life Members Trophy - Sunday, 21 October 2007 - Sydney Harbour

Seve Jarvin and his young Gotta Love It 7 team of Sam Newton and Robert Bell won their second successive race of the season when they mastered the 20-knot North East wind to take out the Life Members Trophy on Sydney Harbour today. Gotta Love It 7 had the boat speed upwind and were spectacular under spinnaker to win by 24secs from Ssangyong Yandoo (John Winning) with CST Composites (Chris Dixon) a further 12secs back in third place. Behind the placegetters were Macquarie Real Estate (Micah Lane), Fiat (Michael Coxon) and Asko Appliances (Hugh Stodart).

Gotta Love It 7 led a tightly bunched fleet to the windward marks, where the three-buoys came into play for the first of three times during the race. Macquarie Real Estate took advantage of going to the middle mark and was first to set her spinnaker, ahead of Sean Langman’s Thurlow Fisher, 7, Asko, CST and Ssangyong Yandoo. The spinnaker run to the wing had the spectators cheering loudly as the skiffs jumped across the water at tremendous speed. 7 took the lead off Steel Point to lead at the wing mark but Ssangyong Yandoo was putting plenty of pressure on to grab second place ahead of Macquarie Real Estate. Keith Piggin Real Estate (Peter Morrison) joined the leading group on this leg and was holding sixth spot before breaking a mast at the gybe.

The three leading teams worked back up the second windward leg with little between them. Ssangyong Yandoo rounded the blue marker 15secs ahead of Gotta Love It 7 which had to go to the further white buoy. Macquarie was next to the blue buoy and actually split the others with the distance advantage over 7. Once again Gotta Love It 7 was brilliant on the long downwind leg to the start mark and from that point was never headed to score an excellent victory. The strong winds took a toll on the fleet with only 14 of the 21 starters completing the course. Next week is Race 1 of the Club Championship and is also the first selection race to determine Australia’s 15 boats to contest the 2008 Giltinan Championship in February.

18ft Skiffs - Club Championship Race 1 - Selection Race for Giltinan Championship Race 1 - Sunday, 28 October 2007 - Sydney Harbour

Hugh Stodart, Niall Kinch and Paul Schulz again showed their light wind skills when they steered Asko Appliances home an easy winner in Race 1 of the Australian 18 Footers League’s Club Championship on SydneyHarbour today. The talented trio took their victory by 1min 15secs from John Harris’ Rag & Famish Hotel in the tricky light north-easterly breeze, with early leader Omega Smeg (Daniel Phillips) a further 20secs back in third place. Gotta Love It 7 (Seve Jarvin) finished a close fourth, followed by Fiat (Michael Coxon) with Australian champion Micah Lane’s Macquarie Real Estate in sixth place. 

The young Pure Blonde crew, skippered by James Francis, won the start with a port tack at the buoy end of the line but midway up the first beat it was Fiat which showed the way from Pure Blonde and Asko. Fiat was a clear leader over Asko on the left hand side of the course while Omega Smeg led a small group on the right. A change came over the race on the final section of the leg where Asko took a 5secs lead from Fiat at the windward mark. Omega Smeg was a further 10secs back in third place ahead of Gotta Love It 7, Ssangyong Yandoo, Macquarie Real Estate and Southern Cross Constructions, which was one minute from the lead. Daniel Phillips made a great tactical move when he elected to gybe Omega Smeg immediately after rounding the mark. The manoeuvre was a winner as it put Smeg into a 10secs lead at the wing mark at RoseBay (SharkIsland).

Smeg increased her lead over Asko to 18secs at the leeward mark while Gotta Love It 7 had moved into third place – 35secs from the leader. Fiat was back in fourth spot, followed Yandoo, Macquarie, Rag & Famish (after a slow start), Pure Blonde, Kinder Caring Home Nursing and Southern Cross. The red mainsail of Smeg led the pack back to the Beashel Buoy windward mark where her lead was now 20secs over Asko. These two leaders had edged ahead of the next group and staged a great battle down the long spinnaker run back to the leeward mark off Clark Island. Asko took the line down the northern shore while Smeg went to the middle. When the pair met near TaylorBay, Smeg held a narrow lead but the greater boat speed of Asko won out as she took a 15secs lead as they turned for the final lap of the course. Asko revelled in the conditions over the final windward leg and headed for home with a race winning lead. The battle was now on for the minor placings between Rag & Famish Hotel, Omega Smeg and Gotta Love It 7, which held the spectators’ interest right to the finish line.

The next race in the 13-race selection series to determine the Australian team for the Giltinan Championship will be sailed on Sunday 11 November.