Great sailing by talented young sailors
The Australian 18 Footers League’s 2026-27 season has some of the most talented young sailors in its ranks and their talent was on display last Sunday when they took on the 30+ knots of southerly wind on Sydney Harbour in Race 5 of the SIXT Spring Championship for 18ft skiffs.
Despite the conditions, six teams, including four with skippers in their teens or early 20s, ventured out onto a ‘boiling’ harbor and started the race in Athol Bay as the winds battered them while they battled to reach the weather mark off Clark Island.
The teams were:
Club Marine, Emma Rankin, Cameron Walker, Daniel Watson
Killer Coffee Co, Ryan Ewings, Matt Stenta, Finn Rodowicz
Rag & Famish Hotel, Ben Crafoord, Marc Chapon, Max Nearn
Sixt, Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli, Brandon Buyink
The Kitchen Maker, Jordan Girdis, Josh Feldmann, Jacob Broom
Vaikobi, Kirk Mitchell, Andrew Stephenson, Paddy Bannon
Twenty-year-old skipper Ben Crafoord, along with 18-year-old bowman Max Nearn and the talented and experienced sheet hand Marc Chapon sailed the course brilliantly without a capsize to grab the honours and must have gained enormous confidence for the major championships to be sailed on Sydney Harbour in the new year.
Ben Crafoord was impressed with The Rag’s crew work, particularly on a wild spinnaker run across the harbor from Rose Bay to Athol Bay. “The run was particularly challenging and we handled it well. It has given us confidence for the future.”
Max Nearn agreed with Ben about the confidence, and added, “Training has improved our teamwork and it was pleasing that we didn’t capsize. He said it was a great effort and important to “represent our sponsor.”
Vaikobi and Sixt both had to overcome early drama but were determined to prove that they could conquer the wind and finished second and third respectively. Only gear failure prevented the other teams from completing the course.
SIXT Spring Championship series leader Club Marine took an early lead but a serious broken mast step gave out (metal sheared apart) forced the team to retire. Emma Rankin said, “the spinnaker run to Chowder was the fastest (said to be 25 knots) I’ve gone on an 18.” Adding, “It was disappointing that we had to pull out as we wanted to keep going.”
Despite last Sunday’s disappointment for the team, Club Marine still leads the championship with a score of 26 points, followed by Killer Coffee Co on 30, Vaikobi on 30.5, The Kitchen Maker on 31, Rag & Famish Hotel on 39, Lazarus Capital Partners on 42 and defending champion Sixt on 44 points.
With an early prediction of excellent 13-14 knot SE winds for next Sunday’s final race time, the 3-buoys course will certainly provide an exciting finish to the championship. The final outcome probably won’t be known until the final few hundred metres of the final leg of the long harbor course.
Around 14,000 views (including multiple viewers at clubs, etc) watched the SailMedia livestream coverage of last Sunday’s race and next Sunday could see more viewers tuning in to see the final outcome.
David Witt is a mentor to the Killer Coffee Co team and was proud of the six teams that ventured out onto the harbor. “I commend them for keeping the culture of the class alive. I remember when I was young and sailing in the smaller classes, when our races were called off, my dad would take me to Sydney Harbour to watch the 18s race at high speed in all conditions. I knew then, that’s what I wanted to do when I was old enough.”
David, an international yachtsman and former world 18 footer champion, was the skipper of the 18ft skiff Nokia in 1996 when he, Cameron McDonald and Charlie Diekman sailed in more than 30+ knots of wind on Waitemata Harbour, Auckland and starred in possibly the most famous 18ft skiff action video of all time and is a very strong supporter of competing ‘at all cost’.
He doesn’t only talk the talk, he has also walked the walk.
To see Witty’s brilliant exhibition of 18ft skiff sailing in 30+ knots of wind, Click here
The League’s President Simon Nearn was on board the SailMedia livestream video team’s camera boat and must have been so proud of his son, Max in the bow of Rag & Famish Hotel, but he was also impressed with the six teams that put on a mighty display for the thousands of watchers of the coverage.
“I had a cracking day on the camera cat seeing what a great job our Sail Media team do and hopefully giving some insight into what the crews were going through and some background. All the crews out there were new combinations showing how to take it on.”
“Emma on Club Marine was impressive with her new team and an unlikely snapped mast step was the gear failure was her downfall. The Sixt guys was only their second outing with Brando and some tough repairs to make to complete the race. Killer Coffee were out there and are a new young team to watch. Jordy on the Kitchen Maker was a bit unlucky with a couple of swims taking its toll. Kirk and the Vaikobi guys had a difficult start but toughed it out – again a new combination on board.”
“I gave a specific shout out on camera to Sixt for sponsoring a great championship to kick the season off and to the Rag & Famish with my son Max on board. The sponsor Pete Caligeros warm on his sofa and also Ben’s Dad Carl who was watching from high up on Darling Point and Marc’s Dad Yves tuning in from Catalunya – all the Dad’s got a mention. It is a special day when you see all the work these lads put in come to fruition taking on a 30 knot southerly and monstering it.”
The ‘Royale’ spectator ferry will follow Sunday’s race, departing Double Bay Wharf at 2:15pm, where patrons can follow the fleet while enjoying drinks and snacks from the on-board bar.
The professional SailMedia Livestream team will be on the course as usual 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.
Click here for Sunday’s livestream link to Race 6 of the SIXT Spring Championship
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