“Better than expected” is the understatement of the year after the outstanding performance ASCC Sailing Team, one of the RAYC 18ft Skiff teams has put on at the JJ’s over the weekend. The team (Eli Liefting, Adam Mustill and Josh Schon) are over in Sydney to learn from the fleet, but found themselves teaching the lesson when they sailed themselves into the lead in race one of the JJ 18ft Skiff Giltinan Championships. The boys took the advice of RAYC commodore Nick Hansen and drove it like they stole it, charging past 2023 Giltinan Champions Andoo on the first downwind to lead the pack. The boys held their own at the pointy end until they had an unfortunate capsize at the second bottom mark which dropped them back in the fleet, but they managed to claw back into 8th place.
Day two was another pearler for the ASCC Racing Team Boys, proving to themselves and everyone else that their performance in race one wasn’t a fluke and they really have what it takes. Race two was right at the upper range for the one rig and even some of the most experienced crews on the race course took a swim, however the ASCC boys kept it dry finishing in 5th place which is also where they currently sit overall on the leaderboard!
Team RAYC (Jack Frewin, Ollie Gilmour, Luc Gladwell) and ASCC White (Craig Keenan, Sam Richardson, Gavin Ninnes) have been learning a lot from the extremely shifty conditions on Sydney Harbour and the sheer amount of traffic on the course, with both teams having some unfortunate swims due to boat wake and inexperience. However the take aways are huge with both teams making steady improvements on their boat speed and handling which is exactly what they came to Sydney to do.
Good luck for the rest of the regatta everybody, you certainly have us on the edge of our seats!
All of the racing is live streamed on Youtube and able to be watched via https://www.youtube.com/@18footersTV.
