Olympic Gold Medalist to join 18ft Skiffs
by Frank Quealey 28 Sep 2012 09:41 BST
Malcolm Page winning gold in the 470 at the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition © Malcolm Page
Olympic Gold Medalist Malcolm Page has announced he will skipper an
18ft Skiff with the Australian 18 Footer League in the 2012-2013
Season on Sydney Harbour.
Malcolm has a marvelous record over several years of international
competition and was rightly honoured at the London 2012 Olympics when
he was chosen to be Australia's Flag Bearer at the Closing Ceremony.
He will team with Darren McKavanagh and Cameron McDonald on THE
KITCHEN MAKER in what promises to be a very competitive challenger for
the major 18ft Skiff championships.
Malcolm, who is the most successful 470 Mens sailor in the 49 years
history of the class, is looking forward to his campaign in the 18s.
"I'm happy to be back into the 18s after a successful Olympic career.
I see this as a great way to have fun with the sport I love".
Aside from his Gold Medals at each of the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London
Olympics, Malcolm has won seven 470 World titles (ten 470 medals in
total) as well as numerous Australian 470 titles, and has been
Australian Sailing Team captain since 2005.
He received further national honours in 2009 when he was named
Australian Yachtsman of the Year.
Sheet hand on THE KITCHEN MAKER, Cameron McDonald is an extremely
experienced 18ft Skiff sailor with an impressive record in three
separate skiff classes.
He began sailing the 18s in Sydney in 1996 (going into his 17th skiff
season) and was runner up in the 2000 Giltinan Championship.
Cameron also won the 2007 Interdominion 12ft Skiff Championship and
was placed 3rd at the 2008 International 14 World Championship in
Germany.
For the third member of the team, bowman Darren McKavanagh, it is a
unique situation as he also doubles as sponsor of the skiff through
his company, THE KITCHEN MAKER.
Darren has been sailing the 18s on and off since 2001 and has taken
over the skiff which was previously sailed by Andy Budgen, of the UK,
as Project One Racing.
"I have enjoyed sailing 18ft Skiffs since 2001 and I have sailing to
thank for a lot of good times and opportunities it has given me with
work", Darren said.
"I have done a lot of work for other sailors, (League) club members,
their friends and families and the club itself".
To make sure his talented team had its best chance of achieving a top
result in the season's major championship events, Darren has purchased
a number of new sails and two new masts.
Speaking of his sponsorship Darren added: "I have to thank my
suppliers for helping me to sponsor the boat. They give me free
material which is as good as cash to my business and is less impact to
their bottom lines".
"I hope that by incorporating a number of companies in the deal I have
brought another way of sourcing sponsors to the fleet".
The team's first race together will be on Sunday 14 October in the
Australian 18 Footer League's 3-Buoys Challenge on Sydney Harbour.