Australian 13ft & 16ft Skiff National Championships at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club - Day 5

by Adam Lucius 13 Jan 2023 09:20 GMT 7-14 January 2023

St George boat Noakes has launched one of the great back-from-the dead revivals in recent history to snatch the lead and set-up a thrilling finish to the 2022/23 Australian 16ft Championships at Manly.

The Dave O'Connor-skippered Noakes was outside the top three heading into the penultimate day of racing on Friday, but peeled off consecutive wins in one afternoon to end the day on top of the overall pointscore. It will now come down to a winner-takes-all shoot-out between Manly's Typhoon (Nathan Wilmot) - three points behind in second - and the in-form Noakes in Saturday's final heat. After O'Connor and crew Pete Mackie and Ricky Bridge were afforded a hero's reception back to the beach from their supporters on the spectator craft, the skipper explained how they'd turned it all around.

"We were worried it wasn't going to get windy enough for us but the breeze picked up and we just knew that we had to go out and get two good results," O'Connor said. "We knew if we sailed two smart races we'd be fine and give ourselves every chance.

"We just wanted to make sure we were alive going into the last race and we were able to pull it off. "Whoever wins tomorrow wins the whole thing and that's great. That's what you want going into the final day of a big regatta.

Noakes has won four races at this regatta but an 18th and a 32nd threatened to cast a dark cloud over their campaign.

Asked how they've been able to put potentially damaging results behind them and get back in the hunt, O'Connor said with a laugh: "Firstly, thanks for reminding me of my inconsistency. "It's a bit like cricket. When you get a duck you have to forget about next time you go out to bat and that's the way we approached it.

"Having legends like these blokes (Bridge and Mackie) in your boat certainly helps. There was no panic at any stage. "I've been blessed to sail with some amazing sailors and these two are right up there with the best."

Typhoon started the day in pole position but now finds itself on the outside looking in and needing to win Saturday's final race while hoping Noakes fails to break into the top four. Wilmot managed a second in Friday's first race but a fifth in the next heat - coupled with O'Connor's faultless display - has seen him go from the pursued to the pursuer.

While the race among the top two will be captivating, there will a fierce battle for places third to sixth. Only five points separates third-placed Sail Racing (Felix Grech) from sixth-placed SKE Electrical (Scott Babbage).

In the 13ft division, EBIX (Jemma Hopkins) will be officially crowned national champion on Saturday after taking an impregnable lead on the back of another impressive day's sailing.

The Manly entrant won heat eight and placed second in heat nine, continuing an amazingly consistent regatta.

EBIX's worst result all week has been a third and its closest rival - Bartley Construction (Taylor Springett) - is a distance eight points adrift.

Results after Day 5:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Club	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
16ft Skiffs
1		Noakes	Dave O'Connor	StGSC	[32]	5	1	1	[18]	6	1	1	15
2		Typhoon	Nathan Wilmot	M16SSC	2	1	[10]	[6]	3	5	2	5	18
3		Sail Racing	Felix Grech	M16SSC	1	3	[12]	2	[22]	8	7	7	28
4		Moonen Yachts	Daniel Turner	M16SSC	5	2	5	8	[12]	3	[11]	6	29
5		IMEI	David Gilmour	M16SSC	4	6	2	4	5	[10]	9	[10]	30
6		SKE Electrical	Scott Babbage	B16	[19]	[35]	7	3	15	1	5	2	33
7		Eric's Storage	Harry Lawson	MH16SC	6	4	14	[17]	1	9	[20]	4	38
8		NHS Building Supplies	Tom Dawson	B16	[49F]	[28]	3	5	6	7	17	3	41
9		Cunninghams	Nick Connor	M16SSC	[29]	11	11	9	2	4	[21]	8	45
10		Tribeca	Ben Bradley	StGSC	15	9	6	[20]	4	[21]	10	12	56
11		Skelcon	Henry Makin	B16	23	10	8	7	[27]	2	8	[49F]	58
12		Musto	Hugh Stodart	M16SSC	11	[17]	[21]	12	10	15	4	11	63
13		Light & Wonder	Matt Meaney	B16	9	[24]	[24]	11	17	11	6	13	67
14		Southerly	Zoe Dransfield	M16SSC	3	8	[30]	[32]	11	17	18	15	72
15		Dominos	Michael Quirk	B16	8	[20]	16	13	16	[28]	3	16	72
16		Botany Access	Chris Thomas	M16SSC	10	12	9	14	8	22	[27]	[25]	75
17		Red Pumps Red	Tyler Dransfield	M16SSC	12	19	4	15	19	[24]	[23]	18	87
18		Sutech Building Consultants	Michael Koerner	M16SSC	7	7	15	23	25	[26]	[28]	19	96
19		Fluid Building	Clint Bowen	M16SSC	14	13	25	[27]	[30]	23	12	9	96
20		Nozomi	Andrew Chapman	B16	25	[29]	[49F]	10	13	18.5	16	14	96.5
21		Infinity Rigging	Lachlan Steel	StGSC	17	16	18	18	[21]	16	13	[21]	98
22		RW Retail	Carlton Smith	DPSS	20	[31]	17	21	20	14	14	[26]	106
23		Red Pumps	Bruce Savage	M16SSC	[36]	25	13	19	9	31	22	[49H]	119
24		Capital Brewing Co.	Jessica Iles	M16SSC	13	23	[42]	[36]	26	13	30	17	122
25		Outback Marine	Georgia Clancy	M16SSC	16	[27]	26	16	14	[27]	25	27	124
26		Noakes Blue	Ryan Ewings	StGSC	24	21	22	26	7	[29]	26	[32]	126
27		Chubbs	Jesse Dransfield	M16SSC	26.5	18	20	24	23	[32]	[31]	22	133.5
28		Kamikaze	Richard Williams	MH16SC	30	[34]	23	22	33	12	19	[49F]	139
29		Shebang	Anthony King	M16SSC	22	[30]	29	25	[39]	25	15	23	139
30		Firestopping	Alex Hart	M16SSC	26.5	[38]	28	29	[35]	20	24	20	147.5
31		Toogara	Josh Tasker	StGSC	33	15	[35]	30	28	18.5	32	[49F]	156.5
32		Employment Hero	Will Divola	M16SSC	18	22	32	[41]	31	30	[49F]	24	157
33		CMG Property Maintenance	Michael Vincent	MH16SC	21	26	27	28	24	[36]	[42]	34	160
34		Edenda	Matilda Lang	DSC	28	[36]	[39]	31	32	35	33	30	189
35		MH44	Eva Attwood	MH16SC	36N	19N	[41]	37	34	38	[44]	28	192
36		Bartley Construction 16	Nathan Lilley	M16SSC	35	33	31	35	[49O]	37	[39]	29	200
37		P Leahy	Mark Willson	MH16SC	34	32	33	33	29	39	[43]	[49F]	200
38		FIREBALL	James Downey	M16SSC	[40]	37	38	38	[42]	33	29	31	206
39		Wichard	Zac Heyes	B16	37	40	34	34	36	[44]	[49F]	36	217
40		Konami	Bethany Sherry	B16	38	45	19	43	38	[49B]	37	[49F]	220
41		Man Flu	Nicholas Stabback	MH16SC	39	[43]	36	[42]	40	40	36	38	229
42		Shead	Marilyn Sorensen	MH16SC	42	41	37	[44]	41	42	34	[49F]	237
43		Weathertex	Jess Rivers	B16	44	42	[49F]	40	43	34	35	[49F]	238
44		Skiffropes.com	Amy Hargrave	MH16SC	[45]	39	40	[49F]	45	41	38	35	238
45		Joe Walsh Rigging	Kye Rivers	M16SSC	[49N]	[49C]	44	45	37	43	40	37	246
46		XXXX Gold	Neale Jones	B16	41	44	[48N]	44N	[46]	46	41	33	249
47		Erics Removals	Joshua Theunissen	MH16SC	43	46	[49F]	[49C]	44	45	49F	49F	276
48		Bella Group	Georgia Steenson	B16	[49C]	[49C]	49C	49C	49C	49C	49C	49C	294
13ft Skiffs
1	35	EBIX	Jemma Hopkins	M16SSC	[3]	1	[2]	1	1	2	1	2	8
2	38	Bartley Construction	Taylor Springett	M16SSC	1	[6]	[4]	2	4	3	2	4	16
3	46	Fluid	Donald Rowlinson	M16SSC	[6]	3	6	4	2	4	[7]	1	20
4	32	Plonk Cafe	Avril Richardson	MH16SC	4	4	[8]	[9]	5	1	3	3	20
5	43	CyberTechGroup.org	Theo Franklin	M16SSC	7N	[10N]	1	5	6	5	4	[9]	28
6	41	Botany Scaffold	Sophie Hart	M16SSC	2	2	[11]	3	[9]	7	8	6	28
7	15	Sheerline	Owen Gillmeister	M16SSC	[8]	5	5	6	[16O]	6	5	8	35
8	9	#9	Angus Stewart	HKSC	9	7	9	[12]	3	8	[14]	5	41
9	40	Cheeky	Zackary Wyatt	HKSC	[15]	9	7	7	7	[10]	6	7	43
10	37	Dutchess	Amy Bentley	M16SSC	7	[14]	[12]	8	11	9	9	10	54
11	16	Livewire	Issac Robbins	HKSC	10	11	3	11	13	11	[15]	[15]	59
12	31	ABICO	Zachary Brakenbury	M16SSC	[16N]	[16N]	13	10	8	12	13	12	68
13	44	Awol	Andrew de Montfort	M16SSC	12	[13]	10	13	10	[14]	12	11	68
14	45	QED	David Tulk	M16SSC	11	10	[16H]	14	12	[15]	10	13	70
15	27	Black Cat	Byron Lowe	HKSC	13	12	[16F]	[15]	14	13	11	14	77