SIXT SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP
Impressive start for Smeg’s new 18ft skiff crew
The close fleet racing we’ve witnessed in the first two weeks of the 2026-27 Australian 18 Footers League racing season on Sydney Harbour has supporters excited at the prospects of the racing to come as the new teams continue to lift their experience and sharper team work.
One of the first of these teams to show how prominent it is going to be in the major titles is the very impressive Smeg team of Ash Rooklyn (skipper), Ricky Bridge (sheet) and Tom Quigley (bow), which finished second, behind Giltinan world champion Yandoo, in last Sunday’s club championship race.
Individually, all three crew members are highly skilled 18ft skiff competitors but Sunday was only the second time they have all sailed together.
Rooklyn had every reason to be encouraged by Sunday’s performance and commented, “We were happy with the performance which was a reward for the hard work we did during the off season.”
“We are a happy team and looking forward to building on the good early start.”
Lighter wind conditions than those often experienced at this time of the year in Sydney has allowed all teams to show their potential and resulted in better racing throughout the fleet.
Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich, Logan Radford and Jack Taylor), which leads the Sixt Spring Championship on 9 points, is another new crew combination which has quickly shown consistency and certainly has the talent for more success.
Two exciting new 18 footer skippers to the League’s fleet are Ryan Ewings (Killer Coffee Co) and Joel Beashel (Thurlow Fisher Lawyers) who have champion crew members in their teams and the expectation on both teams is very high.
Add to the new teams, the current and past Australian champions Henry Larkings (Balmain) and Keagan York (Shaw and Partners Financial Services), defending Spring champion Jacob Marks (Sixt), last Sunday’s Race 2 winner Emma Rankin (Club Marine), Ben Crafoord (Rag & Famish Hotel) and Jordan Girdis (The Kitchen Maker).
Of course, the Giltinan world champion Yandoo crew of John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake are always hard to beat but the task of winning from the ‘scratch’ mark is very difficult against such a talented fleet.
Sunday’s Race 3 of the Sixt Spring Championship looks like being a brilliant contest over a 3-buoys course in a 18-knot NE wind.
Progress points after two of the seven-race Sixt Spring Championship are:
Lazarus Capital Partners 9 points
Club Marine 11
Rag & Famish Hotel 11
The Kitchen Maker 11
Thurlow Fisher Lawyers 12
Balmain 14
Killer Coffee Co 14
Yandoo 14
Smeg 17
Sothebys-Ballard Property 18
Vaikobi 19
Sixt 20
Shaw and Partners Financial Services 21
18 Footers Bar & Restaurant 25
Royal Oak Double Bay 28
Fisher & Paykel 30
Ocius 31
The League has the ‘Royale’ spectator ferry to follow the racing, departing Double Bay Wharf at 2:15pm, where patrons can follow the fleet, soak up the views, and enjoy drinks and snacks from the on-board bar. It’s “a floating grandstand generations have called their own for generations”.
For those unable to take advantage of the spectator ferry, the professional SailMedia Livestream team will be on the course to capture all the action. The team have three cameras feeding into the livestream production; a drone, a main camera mounted on the roof of the Camera Cat, and a commentary team POV camera.
SailMedia’s coverage provides viewers with all the close up racing action, along with the beauty of the harbour and the city, all backed up by expert commentary from former competitors who are situated on the Camera Cat – in the centre of all the racing action.
18ft Skiffs
SIXT Spring Championship, Race 3
Mick Scully Memorial Trophy
Sunday, 25 October 2026 Sydney Harbour
The close racing of the first two weeks at the Australian 18 Footers League was missing in Race 3 of the SIXT Spring Championship when a strong North East wind on Sydney Harbour proved more than a handful for most of the new, young teams in the fleet today.
Despite the conditions and having two replacement crew members onboard, the Yandoo team of Steve Thomas, Max Paul and Lewis Brake were brilliant as they powered their skiff around the 3-buoys course to victory by 4m34s.
A race-long battle between the four challenging boats, Smeg (Ash Rooklyn, Ricky Bridge and Tom Quigley) took second place behind Yandoo. Third place and the series lead after three races went to The Kitchen Maker (Jordan Girdis, Josh Feldmann and Rory Cox), which finished a further 1m6s behind Smeg.
The only other skiffs to complete the course were Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell, Max Vos and Paddy Bannon) in fourth place and Killer Coffee Co (Ryan Ewings, Matt Stenta and Finn Rodowicz) in fifth.
After the three SIXT Spring Championship races sailed so far, The Kitchen Maker leads the championship with a score of 14 points, followed by Yandoo on 15 points, Killer Coffee Co and Smeg, both on 19, then Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich) and Vaikobi on 23 points.
Race 4 of the SIXT Spring series will be sailed next Sunday (1 November) in conjunction with Race 2 of the Australian 18 Footers League Club Championship.
Yandoo, along with Balamin (Henry Larkings) and Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York) battled for the lead out of the start, but Yandoo gradually eased away off Rose Bay on the way to the weather marks off the Beashel Buoy.
From her ‘scratch’ handicap, Yandoo had to go to the ‘Red’ mark (the furthest) but it didn’t make any difference to the incredible skiff, which seems able to win any type of race or series, with any crew, as it raced in the lead down the following spinnaker run to the wing mark off the southern end of Shark Island.
Emma Rankin’s Club Marine was in second place at the first set of weather marks, ahead of Shaw and Partners, Killer Coffee Co, Vaikobi and Smeg, but Club Marine capsized after a problem with the spinnaker set.
Yandoo was already more than 30s ahead of Shaw and Partners at the wing mark, followed by Killer Coffee Co, Vaikobi, Smeg, The Kitchen Maker and Lazarus Capital Partners.
When Shaw and Partners capsized approaching the bottom mark off Clark Island, Killer Coffee Co grabbed second place ahead of Vaikobi, Smeg, Lazarus and The Kitchen Maker, but shortly after she capsized as well.
With Yandoo already well over one minute ahead of the fleet, most interest centred on the battle between Vaikobi, Smeg and The Kitchen Maker.
When Vaikobi capsized late in the race it left Yandoo, Smeg and The Kitchen Maker, the only three teams not to capsize during the race, as the three placegetters.
Race 4 of the SIXT Spring Championship and the Mondiale VGL Season Point Score will be sailed next Sunday. As usual SailMedia will provide a livestream coverage of the racing with expert comments by the team broadcast direct from the race course.
Coverage of today’s race is available at 18FootersTV on the club’s website.
18ft skiffs: Yandoo, incredible 18ft skiff champion
Can Yandoo make it four wins in a row on Sunday?
When the Australian 18 Footer League’s fleet lines up on Sydney Harbour on Sunday, to contest Race 2 of the League’s club championship, sixteen teams will be out to try and stop the current JJ Giltinan world champion, Yandoo, from winning its fourth consecutive race from the four races sailed by that time.
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Sponsor of the Week: Sixt is our sponsor for the Spring Championships and has organised musicians every Sunday playing from 4-7pm. So come down to watch our sailing presentation, and enjoy a Sixt Sunset Sipper (cocktail of the month sponsored by Sixt).
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