After a three-year hiatus, three young Kiwi teams from RAYC have headed over to Sydney to battle it out at the renowned 18ft JJ Giltinan Championships. Our RAYC teams are comprised of some exceptional sailors and for all but one this is their very first JJ’s.
Meet the Fleet:
ASCC Sailing Team
Eli Liefting (Skipper)
Adam Mustill (Main)
Josh Schon (Bow)
RAYC
Jack Frewin (Skipper)
Ollie Gilmour (Main)
Luc Gladwell (Bow)
ASCC White
Craig Keenan ( Skipper)
Sam Richardson (Main)
Gavin Ninnes (Bow)
Eli attended his first JJ’s in 2019 when he was just 16 years old, and then again in 2020. However, in 2020 the JJ’s were called off mid regatta and the teams had to evacuate back to New Zealand due to the first border closure at the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic. Since then the Kiwis are yet to compete at the JJ’s, but thanks to the passion and backing of Life Member Graham Catley the Kiwis are back racing on Sydney Harbour.
Over the last 18 months, the fleet has been training hard, racing regularly on Friday evenings and alternate Sundays at club racing, as well as recently competing in the 18ft Skiff National and Auckland Championships. Racing begins this Friday (March 1) and runs through to March 10th. The racing will be live-streamed every day on YouTube on the 18 Footers TV channel
Good luck boys we look forward to watching you all get amongst it on Sydney Harbour in the coming weeks!
