2018 JJ's Sydney Harbour

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18ft Skiffs
JJ Giltinan Championship
Sponsored by The Winning Group
Sunday, 4 March 2018
Sydney Harbour





New Zealand's domination of the 2018 Winning Group 2018 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship continued on Sydney Harbour today when Honda Marine proved too good for the 25-boat fleet of the world's best 18 Footer teams.

David McDiarmid, Matt Steven and Brad Collins grabbed the lead soon after the start and led for most of the course before going on to a 2m6s win from a determined Asko Appliances (James Dorron, Paul Montague, Harry Bethwaite) team.

Race 1 winner, and overall points leader, Maersk Line (Josh Porebski, Jack Simpson, Dave Hazzard) battled all throughout the race with Asko Appliances and finished a further 32s back in third place.

While the top three teams broke away from the rest of the fleet, the battle for the minor placings was intense in the 25-30-knot Southerly which battered the harbour course.

Brett Van Munster's Appliancesonline.com.au finished fourth, followed by Knight Frank (Riley Dean), Yandoo (John Winning), Ilve (Oliver Hartas) and Triple M (James Ward).










After the two races sailed so far, Maersk Line leads with a total of four points, followed by Honda Marine on5, Asko Appliances on 7, Finport Trade Finance (Keagan York) on 11, Knight Frank and Appliancesonline on 13 and Harken (Riley Gibbs) on 15.

Honda Marine led a group, in cluding Harken, Asko Appliances and Knight Frank, to the first windward mark off Clark Island, then had to withstand a great challenge by the Maersk Line, Asko Appliances and Appliancesonline.com.au teams on the long spinnaker run to Obelisk.

The following windward leg back into the teeth of the wind to the Rose Bay mark saw a wonderful battle develop between Asko Appliances and Honda Marine with Asko leading by 5s as the pair sped off on a two-sail reach back to the bottom mark.

Both teams were superb in very difficult conditions and Honda Marine regained her lead for the work back across the harbour to the windward mark off Clark Island.











While the two leaders were producing a terrific contest, the group behind them was also providing the large crowd with some close racing.

Appliancesonline and Maersk Line, Ilve and Yandoo, Knight Frank and Triple M had three individual battles as the wind took a heavy toll on the fleet.

One of the most outstanding performances was the effort by the Knight Frank team (Riley Dean, Luke Stevenson and Tim Snowden) who recovered from a spectacular capsize off Shark Island to finish an incredible fifth on the day. (see Suellen Davies image attached and AeroMedia.com.au aerial images attached).






Back at the front, Honda Marine was able to hold off Asko Appliances over the final lap of the course and edged away for a good victory.

Today's Result Sheet and Progress Points are attached, together with photos from today's race.

Race 3 of the JJ Giltinan Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour on Tuesday 6 March
Race dates for the rest of the championship are:
Race 4 Wednesday March 7
Race 5 Thursday March 8
Race 6 Saturday March 10
Race 7 Sunday March 11

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18ft Skiffs
JJ Giltinan Championship, Race 3
Sponsored by The Winning Group
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
Sydney Harbour
(today's race sponsored by Rag & Famish Hotel)

The Australians fought back after an previous domination by the New Zealand teams when Finport Trade Finance took out Race 3 of the Winning Group JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.

Finport Trade Finance (Keagan York, Matt Stenta, Angus Williams) had a race-long dual with the winners of the two earlier races in the championship (Maersk Line nad Honda Marine) before crossing the finish line an 18s winner.

Honda Marine (Dave McDiarmid, Matt Steven, Brad Collins) finished second, just 4s ahead of third pl;aced Maersk Line (Josh Porebski, Jack Simpson, Dave Hazard).







Riley Gibbs is standing in for Howie Hamlin, who is in in Sydney, but cannot sail at this time due to a medical condition.


[IMG]http://pressure-drop.us/imagehost/images/52232215140611753633.jpg[IMG]


Although finishing behind Finport today, the two New Zealand teams share the lead with a total of seven points, followed by Finport on 12 points.

Harken, of the USA, (Riley Gibbs) finished fourth today and is also in fourth place overall on 19 points.

Two more New Zealand teams, Knight Frank (Riley Dean) and C-Tech (Alex Vallings) round out the top six overall on 20 and 25 points respectively.

Once again, the strong Southerly wind gave all teams some great rides but was also responsible for some capsizes during the first half of the race.







Finport Trade Finance and Knight Frank won the start narrowly but it was the Finport team that held the lead at the windward mark off Clark Island.

There was nothing between Finport and Maersk Line as the two skiffs raced side by side (without spinnakers) on the downwind run to Obelisk, with the young Vintec (Kirk Mitchell) team in third place, ahead of Honda Marine, Knight Frank and C-Tech.

Over the next lap of the course, the positions at the head of the fleet changed a few times but there was never much difference between the leading three teams.

Honda Marine had narrowly trailed Finport and Maersk Line for three legs of the course before grabbing the lead after a brilliant spinnaker run from Clark Island to Obelisk.

The Honda Marine lead was short-lived as Finport Trade Finance came back on the work into the Rose Bay mark where she led Honda Marine by 8s.

Young Riley Gibbs and his team made great time on the leg and managed to get into third place just ahead of Maersk Line.







The bear-away by the Finport team was executed brilliantly and the local team managed to extend their lead, a lead they had little difficulty hold over the final two legs of the course.

It was a great credit to all teams as 23 of the 24 starters managed to complete the course.

The only non-finisher was Triple M which lost a crewman just before the race and had to substitute a last minute replacement, then had a collision only a few secs. after the start.







Race 4 of the JJ Giltinan Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour tomorrow, Wednesday 7 March.
Race dates for the rest of the championship are:
Race 5 Thursday March 8
Race 6 Saturday March 10
Race 7 Sunday March 11

How to follow the championship:
Website: www.18footers.com
Twitter: @18skiff
Instagram: @18skiff
Facebook: International 18ft Skiff
Youtube: 18footerstv

[Prince of Whales]

Go Team Riley!

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Maersk Moves To Top




Day 4 of The Winning Group 2018 JJ Giltinan International 18ft Skiff Championship was held on Sydney Harbour today when two short-course, windward-return races were sailed towards the overall championship pointscore.

The first of the two races was sailed in an 11-knot South-East wind and resulted in a win for Triple M (James Ward, Adam Gillson, Tom Anderson) by 11s from the Australian champion Smeg team (Lee Knapton, Ricky Bridge, Mike McKensey), with New Zealand's Honda Marine (Dave McDiarmid, Matt Steven, Brad Collins) a further 47s back in third place.

In the latter race, which was sailed in a flukey 8-14-knot South-East breeze, New Zealand's Maersk Line (Josh Porebski, Jack Simpson, Dave Hazzard) took the lead only a few hundred metres from the finish to defeat the UK's The Time Genie (Graham Bridle, Eddie Bridle, Ed Gibbons) by 2s, with Finport Trade Finance (Keagan York, Matt Stenta, Angus Williams) another 10s back in third place.







After the day's racing, Maersk Line leads the points table with 13 points, followed by Honda Marine on 14, Finport Trade Finance on 28, Knight Frank on 40, Asko Appliances (James Dorron) 40, and NZ's C-Tech (Alex Vallings) on 44.

Thew course for both races was set between the start in Taylor Bay to a windward mark in Rose Bay.

The lighter wind conditions and nature of the course didn't produce the excitement, spectacle or spinnaker/two-sail reaching we saw in the previous three days and the erratic results reflected the uncertainty of the short course racing.











In the first race, Triple M led the fleet to the top mark, and along with Quality Marine Clothing (Aron Everett) was near the lead throughout the three laps. Smeg was fourth to the top mark and held her position for most of the race before coming home in second place 47s ahead of Honda Marine.

The latter race saw UK's The Time Genie lead the fleet to the top mark from Triple M, Peroni (Nick Daly), Panasonic Lumix (Jordan Girdis), Finport Trade Finance, Harken (Riley Gibbs) and Appliancesonline.com.au (Brett Van Munster).

Conditions in this race were difficult as the wind varied in direction and strength. On the first lap of the course most of the leading championship contenders were stuck at the back of the fleet.

Appliancesonline.com.au was the leader over the second lap of the course, from Triple M, Harken, Finport and Asko Appliances. Honda Marine was in 10th place and Maersk Line 11th.










When the wind freshened on the final run to the finish a change came over the fleet when the then race leader Rag & Famish Hotel (Bryce Edwards) capsized and Maersk Line came through to take the victory.

Today's Result Sheets and Progress Points are attached, together with photos from today's racing.

Day 5 of the JJ Giltinan Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour tomorrow, Thursday 8 March.
Race dates for the rest of the championship are:
Day 6 Saturday March 10
Day 7 Sunday March 11

[Honey Badger]

Now if they could just keep their containers on board!

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Kiwis 1-2 As JJ's Near Completion




Editors Note: The Aussies have completely dominated the JJ's since its inception in 1938, with 57 wins total since.
The Kiwi's have won 7 times in those years, the last being Travelodge New Zealand with Terry McDell at helm in 1974.
A victory this year would be a YUUUUUGGGEEE win for the Kiwis!





18ft Skiffs
JJ Giltinan Championship, Day 5
Sponsored by The Winning Group
Thursday, 8 March 2018
Sydney Harbour
(today's race sponsored by Asko Appliances)

Australian champion Smeg team were back to their best for the first time in The Winning Group 2018 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship when they took points honours of Day 5 racing on Sydney Harbour today.

Lee Knapton, Mike McKensey and Ricky Bridge scored a win in Race 6 and finished second in Race 7 to score three points on the day and move into fourth position overall in the championship.

In Race 6, Smeg took the honours by 12s from New Zealand's C-Tech (Alex Vallings, Sam Trethewey, Matt Coutts), with series leader Maersk Line (Josh Porebski, Jack Simpson, Dave Hazzard) a further 24s back in third place.








In the latter race (Race 7 of the championship), Honda Marine (David McDiarmid, Brad Collins, Matt Steven) took an early lead and were never headed over the ESE windward-return course.

Smeg finished 10s behind Honda Marine, with Maersk Line again finishing in third place, another 10s behind Smeg.

The championship should go down to the final race on Sunday as the two New Zealand teams Maersk Line and Honda Marine are separated by just one points and each has an almost identical discard.






Both New Zealand teams have total points of 19, but allowing for discards (at this time) Maersk Line leads the championship on 14 points, followed by Honda Marine on 15, Asko Appliances (James Dorron) on 30, Smeg 37 and Finport Trade Finance (Keagan York) 37, with another New Zealander, Knight Frank in sixth place on 38 points.

The improved form of Smeg and Asko Appliances could play an important part in the overall winner as every points is critical and each of these two teams is more than capable of finishing on the podium in both races over the weekend.





Day 6 of the JJ Giltinan Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour on Saturday, Thursday 10 March.

Frank Quealey
Australian 18 Footers League
www.18footers.com

[Prince of Whales]

Will the Kiwis bring the JJ's to Auckland?

[Single Hander]

Big party in NZ if this happens.

Much drinking.

Sheep be nervous!

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The 44 Year Kiwi JJ' Drought Ends

18ft Skiffs
JJ Giltinan Championship, Day 7
Sponsored by The Winning Group
Sunday, 11 March 2018
Sydney Harbour
(today's race sponsored by The Kitchen Maker)




New Zealand's Honda Marine (David McDiarmid, Matt Steven, Brad Collins) became the first Kiwi team to win the 80-year-old JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour when the team completed the championship with a total of 21 points to defeat fellow-kiwi team Maersk Line by just one point.





The final race of The Winning Group 2018 JJ Giltinan International Championship was sailed in a brilliant 12-15-knot North East wind on Sydney Harbour today in front of a large spectator fleet and the cheering crowds aboard the two Australian 18 Footers League's Spectator Ferries.



Australia's Finport Trade Finance (Keagan Yord, Matt Stenta, Angus Williams) finished strongly to take line honours by 13s from an unlucky Asko Appliances (James Dorron, Paul Montague, Harry Bethwaite) which led for almost the entire race.




The championship runner-up, Maersk Line (Josh, Porebski, Jack Simpson, Dave Hazzard) finish in third place today,1m54s behind Asko Appliances.
It was an emotional moment for Dave McDiarmid, who has tried for a number of years to take the title.
As he brought Honda Marine alongside the spectator ferry to receive the coveted Blue Ribbon from former Giltinan champion David Porter, McDiarmid jumped onto to ferry to cuddle his great family supporters Jana, Viktor andhis mother Susan.



NSW champion The Kitchen Maker (Scott Babbage) finished behind the placegetters today, followed by Smeg (Lee Knapton) and Honda Marine.
Top six placings on the overall points table: Honda Marine 21 points, Maersk Line 22 points, Asko Appliances 35 points, Finport Trade Finance 42 points, Smeg 44 points and Harken (Riley Gibbs, USA) on 59 points.




Asko Appliances and Honda Marine shared the lead early on the spinnaker run from the Beashel Buoy, but Asko Appliances led the fleet once the fleet reached the bottom mark off Clark Island.
From that point Asko Appliances led the fleet over the nest three long legs of the course before coming under cahllenge from Finport Trade Finance.
This pair staged a great race from the Beashel Buoy, around the wing mark off Shark Island and the final run between Shark and Clark islands.

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Travel Time For The JJ Giltinan Trophy



Kiwi's David McDiarmid, Matt Steven, Brad Collins did New Zealand proud this week and wrestled the vaulted
18 World Champion Trophy, aka the JJ Giltinan Trophy away from the Aussies after a 44 year old drought.
The Trophy seldom leaves it's home case at 18 Footer League Clubhouse, and does not have a nicely
padded travel case like the Auld Mug seen further below...



No mate, the 18 World Championship trophy, won this year by the Kiwis for only the 7th time since the 1st JJ's in 1938,
sorta travels in steerage style. Above, John Winning and Graham Catley render a quick fix travel case for one of the oldest
sailing trophies in existence for her quick tip to Auckland. In case you are wondering about where the JJ's will be held next year,
the race will be at the Australian 18 Footers Clubhouse, as it should be. You really can't improve on the location, the facilities, the
spectator ferries and more recently the live video coverage of the event....

[Buzz Light Beer]

Classic Kiwi innovation!

[Tonapah Low]

18's have been scarce here on SF Bay last couple years.

Is that cycle over?