SLAM JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship at Sydney - Overall

The final day of the 2007 SLAM JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.book.fr

The Fiat team of Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Nathan Ellis officially retained their title when they won the SLAM-Winning Appliances JJ Giltinan International 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.

While Coxon and his team could do no better than fourth today they already had secured the title after yesterday’s race 6

Second overall went to the young Gotta Love It 7 crew of Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Robert Bell while John Harris, Craig Ferris and Chris Cleary (+ stand in Dave Ewings) finished third in Rag & Famish Hotel.

In today’s race, the fleet finally got to use their #2 rigs for the first time since race 1 when an 18-knot southerly wind greeted them at the start.

In a close race to the Clarke Island windward mark Gotta Love It 7 grabbed a narrow lead from Asko Appliances (Hugh Stodart) which set the stage for a great dog fight between the pair until misfortune struck the Asko boys late in the race.

The match racing skills of young Jarvin and their hard-driving spinnaker runs enabled Gotta Love It 7 retain a narrow lead until the final run to Obelisk Bay.

On this tight run Asko had taken a narrow lead before the skiff ran aground – breaking a centerboard and forcing a retirement.

From that point Gotta Love It 7 was untroubled to go on to a 1min 51secs win over Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris) with Howie Hamlin’s Pegasus Racing a further 1min 46secs back in third place.

While no match for the winner, these two skiffs had also produced a race-long battle.

Overall Results: