Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023

2025 16ft Skiff Australian Championships update after 4 heats

by Adam Lucius 7 Jan 23:23 GMT 4-11 January 2025
2025 16ft Skiff Australian Championships © Promocean Media

Modern Construction Concepts are daring to dream about pulling off one of the more remarkable Australian 16ft Championship victories after lighting up the first four heats of the nationals in Hervey Bay.

Skipper Kurt Hansen and crew Jackson Cranfield and Chris Williams have guided the Manly boat to three seconds and a first to hold down the provisional lead at the midway point of an intriguing regatta on the Fraser Coast.

The fleet has been dished up a variety of conditions, but Hansen and his team have taken it all in their stride to put together a string of podium finishes. While there is a long way to go - five heats to be exact - before a winner is crowned on Saturday evening, MCC is clearly the boat to beat.

It's hard to believe the regatta leaders have only sailed together a handful of times after Hansen ended a five-year exile from the class just a few months ago. "We're just getting better with every race and the boat is going like an absolute freight train," an excited Hansen said. "It's quite easy to make the right calls when you've got good boat speed. "This is our first season (together) and my first time back sailing in quite a few years, but we're really starting to get the hang of it. "We're starting to gel as a team and figure out how everyone operates. "It's amazing to think how quickly and how well it's all come together."

But the 27-year-old has seen enough at Hervey Bay to know to take nothing for granted. The championships have thrown up four different winners across the four heats and there are threats throughout the fleet. Previous nationals winner Imagine Signage (Nathan Wilmot) and Moonen Yachts (Daniel Turner) sit second and third respectively on the overall pointscore, with defending champion Bosker Build (Sarah Lee) fourth. With a drop to be applied after heat six, the jockeying for positions will be intense when racing resumes after Wednesday's lay day.

Lee believes Bosker - the best-placed St George boat - can have a say in the final placed despite being well behind the leaders. "We are still in good spirits despite not quite getting the results we know we can achieve,' she said. "We're still in the running for a podium finish and will keep up the positivity. It's not over until it's over but MCC is clearly killing it and they're proving very hard to beat."

Hansen said: "It's not simple sailing up here. It hasn't been a one-way track. "We thought it would be a simple sea breeze every day, but we've had a lot of variety and that's made it quite interesting. "We're very happy but there's a long way to go and we're trying not to get ahead of ourselves."

Asked what it would mean if they could retain pole position and take out the regatta, he said: "It would be amazing to do it against a red-hot fleet. "Jackson and Chris have put so much time and money into this boat and it would mean a lot for them to get their hands on the title."

Manly boats hold down six of the top seven spots, with only Bosker breaking up the monopoly. Manly's Red Concrete (James Downey) sits second on the handicap pointscore, behind Belmont's New Era Technology.

St George boats Wichard Pacific (John Jefferson), Toogara (Tom Clout) fill the next two places.

Full results here

Related Articles

Swap Day - the highlight of the Manly calendar
65 registered juniors went for a spin at Manly 16ft Skiff Club For all the trophies, titles and honours Manly 16ft Skiff Club accumulates each year, the collective smiles on the faces of Swap Day participants probably best sums up what the place is about. Posted on 20 Apr
Modern Concept Constructions win Club Championship
Adopting the KISS at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club Leaders Modern Concept Constructions adopted the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) theory to take the sting out of the contest early en route to a maiden club championship victory on Saturday. Posted on 10 Apr
Down to the Wire
Rarely has there been a tighter contest at the Manly Skiff Club Cancel any appointments you have for April 5 and make sure you're at the Manly Skiff Club - or watching Sail Media's livestream - for the final club championship heats of the season. Posted on 26 Mar
Manly 16s Old Buffers Day
Their bodies might have been screaming for mercy, but there was nowhere else they'd rather be Their bodies might have been screaming for mercy, but there was nowhere else a group of Manly Skiff Club greats would rather have been as they turned back the clock at the annual Old Buffers Day. Posted on 15 Mar
Harry Price wins the Botany Bay Championship 2025
Moonen Yachts takes victory in the famous 16ft Skiff race at St George Harry Price had only 24 hours to prepare for a race that's been 115 years in the making before joining an illustrious list of skippers to win the Botany Bay Championship. Posted on 19 Feb
Stuart Challenge Shield and Botany Bay Regatta
16-footers grand history at the club continues with the Shield to be decided 15 February 2025 This remarkable shield was presented to our club on New Year's Day 1909, to be raced for the dominant skiff class at that time (14ft) and conducted on a course ‘around' Botany Bay. That class only lasted till 16 ft skiffs were granted the honour to race. Posted on 9 Feb
Sponsorship is two-way street at Manly Skiff Club
There is no take without the give The sailors in the 16s and 13s fleets bring sponsors along for the ride, providing constant feedback on results, producing media content/exposure and creating an all-inclusive environment. Posted on 4 Feb
Sydney Harbour Marathon
Part of the Australian 18 Footers League's 90th Anniversary celebrations The Australian 18 Footers League, as part of its 90th Anniversary celebrations recreated the Sydney Harbour Marathon, last sailed 37 years ago when 18, 16 and 12 footers competed on a similar course. Posted on 1 Feb
13' Skiff National Championship wrap-up
Manly boat Harken lived up to all the pre-regatta hype Manly boat Harken lived up to all the pre-regatta hype and expectation to blow the opposition out of the water and claim the Australian 13ft Skiff Championship by an astonishing 21 points on Hervey Bay. Posted on 12 Jan
Rookie from Sailing Royalty
Joel Beashel has become the youngest skipper to win the 16ft Skiff Nationals Joel Beashel has become the youngest skipper to take out the Australian 16ft Championship, winning the title 63 years after his famous grand-father Ken etched his name on the trophy. Posted on 12 Jan