Please select your home edition
Edition
InsureMy leaderboard April May June 2025

18ft Skiff International Regatta at San Francisco - Day 1

by Rich Roberts 30 Aug 2005 08:36 BST 29 August - 2 September 2005

Aussies (who else?) rule on opening day

Jack Young, sailing Pegasus Gold with Euan McNicol and Casey Smith as crew, took a pair of opening-day wins in stride in the 18' Skiff International Regatta Monday, but Smith was a bit more expressive.

"It will be hard to go back to sailing anything else," Smith, 26, said of his first racing experience in the class. "You don't do on other boats what you do on these."

The all-Australian team posted two comfortable victories while other Aussie entries - defending champion John (Woody) Winning, Grant Rollerson and Andrew Cuddihy - stood second, fourth and fifth, separated by former world champions Howard Hamblin and Mike Martin of Long Beach and Newport Beach, Calif., sailing Pegasus White with young Aussie Trent Barnabas in the forward position.

Sixteen-year-old Samuel (Shark) Kahn, sailing the Pegasus Black with Cameron MacDonald and Paul Allen, notched a pair of fifths and shared a three-way tie for fourth among nine boats. One entry, Ty Reed's third hometown Skiff Sailing Foundation boat, retired from the first race with a broken tiller and called it a day.

Eight races remain through Friday, including the Ronson Bridge to Bridge change of pace late Thursday afternoon. All other races are run on windward-leeward courses from 1.2 to 1.5 miles in length set off the south shore of the bay from the Golden Gate past the host St. Francis Yacht Club to Fort Mason, twice or three times around. There will be no discards.

Winds Monday were a San Francisco normal 18-22 knots but from southwest over the peninsula rather than through the Golden Gate. Young said that may have made his day easier, although he had to work for the lead after a mediocre start in the first race.

"Howie [Hamblin] jibed out early and managed to halve the first run on us," Young said, "and we had a stuff-up dropping the kite, but downwind the next time we had that one long starboard leg with one jibe at the end. We got a really good ride there."

So good that when the boat flew off a wave on what Young called a "bunny hop," Smith exclaimed "Who’s yo daddy?!" in his excitement.

Did that means he's having fun already?

"If that's anything to go by, it'll be fun all week," Smith said.

With shirtsleeve temperatures in the 70s, Martin and Winning seemed satisfied just to enjoy the sailing, as long as they're in contention three points off the lead.

"It was a beautiful day," Martin said.

Winning added, "Nothing too anxious out there yet - but it'll get that way."

Results after 2 of 10 races:

1. Pegasus Gold, Jack Young/Euan McNicol/Casey Smith, 1-1, 2pts
2= Tie between Yandoo, John Winning/Andrew Hay/'Geoff Beaushop, 2-3, 5pts
2= Howard Hamblin/Mike Martin/Trent Barnabas, 3-2, 5pts
4= Rag & Famish, Grant Rollerson/David Cunningham/Chris Cleary, 6-4, 10pts
4= Fisher & Paykel, Andrew Cuddihy/Brent Dennis/Gerard Smith, 4-6, 10pts
4= Samuel (Shark) Kahn/Cameron MacDonald/Paul Allen, 5-5, 10pts
7= Skiff Sailing Foundation, Chad Freitas/Dana Jones/Matt Noble, 8-7, 15pts
7= Fernside/Skiff Sailing, Patrick Whitmarsh/Kevin Richards/Ben Glass, 7-8, 15pts
9. Skiff Sailing Foundation, Ty Reed/Dave Chatham/TBD, DNF-DNS, 20pts

Complete results at www.stfyc.org

Related Articles

18ft Skiff European Championships
Germany's Black Knight takes the title by a single point The International 18 Footer League - European Championship 2025, hosted by Circolo Vela Arco, concluded on Thursday, after five days of spectacular racing featuring some of the fastest and most exciting skiffs in the sailing world. Posted on 27 Jun
Western Australia's 18 footers history
An on-off situation between the 1890s and 2013 Western Australia's participation in the Australian 18 footer scene has been an on-off situation between the 1890s and 2013 but its impact during the early years of the class demands that it is remembered today by all 18 footer supporters and enthusiasts. Posted on 11 Jun
The link between two great Australian sports
A unique connection between brute strength and beauty James Joseph Giltinan was one of Australia's great entrepreneurs of the early 1900s, and the man most responsible for creating a unique link between one of the most confrontational football codes in the world and the beauty of sailing. Posted on 25 May
The last 18' skiff champion before one design
Michael Spies won the 1993 and 1995 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championships When Michael Spies won the 1993 and 1995 World 18 footer championships, in his Julian Bethwaite-designed Winfield Racing skiff, he became the last winner of the title before the introduction of the new one-design 18 footer won its first title in 1996. Posted on 14 May
Smeg's 29 years of 18ft Skiff sponsorship success
It all began when a Trevor Barnabas-led team raced a skiff named Omega Smeg-2UE The Smeg Australia 18ft skiff sponsorship with the Australian 18 footers League began in 1996-97 and has continued harmoniously, with many great successes, over the following twenty nine seasons on Sydney Harbour. Posted on 7 May
The 18ft Skiff 'Big Boat Era'
The original 18 footers which raced from the 1890s to the mid-1930s We are all familiar with the modern 18 footers as they speed across Sydney Harbour with their carbon fibre hulls and lightweight state-of-the-art sails and spars but they a vastly different to the original 18 footers. Posted on 23 Apr
A look back at the 2003 18ft Skiff JJ Giltinan
The closest of 76 regattas in the greatest championship The recent JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship regatta produced some nervous moments for the Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake during the 'crazy' westerly conditions of the last race Posted on 30 Mar
Winnings JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship Day 7
The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake wrap up the win The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake became the world 18 footer champions after scoring a brilliant victory in the Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship, which concluded on Sydney Harbour today. Posted on 16 Mar
Winnings JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship Day 6
Yandoo in pole position going into Sunday's final race The Yandoo team of Tom Needham, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake went into today's Race 8 on Sydney Harbour with a two points lead over Finport Finance, its closest challenger to retaining the coveted title. Posted on 15 Mar
Winnings JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship Day 5
A critical race going into the weekend's final two races With just one point separating the two leading contenders for the Winnings 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship, today's Race 7 of the nine-race regatta was going to be critical going into the weekend's final two races. Posted on 13 Mar