18ft Skiffs: Queensland 18 footer history
by Frank Quealey 2 Jul 2025 07:46 BST
Queensland's revival over recent seasons, which resulted in a two-pronged attack by experienced and young teams in new skiffs at the 2025 Giltinan world championship, brought back memories of the state's past achievements which led the 18 footer evolution during the earlier history of the iconic Australian class.
Over the most recent international regattas, the experienced team of Dave Hayter, Ben Roxburgh and Elliott Maher on Big Foot Bags and Covers and the youth team of Josh Sloman, George Morton and Angus Barker on WLTH, have built up their campaigns to a very competitive level in Giltinan championship fleets which are strengthening each year.
It began when interstate competition between NSW and Queensland was staged on Sydney Harbour in January 1895 and started a rivalry that drove the 18 footers on to greater things.
The City of Brisbane Sailing Club was also formed in 1895 and hosted the 1896 event, which was won by a newly-built boat (Britannia) on their home waters, then following contests were staged through to 1898, which tended to favour locals local teams.
In 1900 the City of Brisbane SC changed its name to the Brisbane Flying Squadron, then later to the Queensland Flying Squadron in 1905 and finally to the Brisbane 18-footers' Sailing Club in 1920.
There was a dormant period for Queensland after Federation in 1901, but when a new event named the Mark Foy Challenge Cup was introduced at the beginning of the 1911-12 season, Queensland re-entered the interstate competition against NSW and Western Australia before the series was temporarily abandoned due to the outbreak of WW1.
On resumption of racing in 1917-18, Queensland won six official and unofficial interstate regattas through the period prior to the first evolution from 'the big boat era' to more 'modern' type boats in 1934.
Colin Clark won with Britannia in 1918, then with Vision in 1921 and 1923, Jim Crouch with Queenslander III in 1926, Harold Crouch with Waratah in 1930 then Lance Watts with Tangalooma in 1932.
Despite those successes, due to the Great Depression of the early 1930s, the Brisbane fleet was getting old and cost of replacing the boats was a factor, and there was talk in Queensland about a smaller, skiff-type 18 with fewer crew and lighter gear, which would also be cheaper to build.
Queensland had long been more progressive than NSW and WA and, in 1925 Queensland designers and builders questioned the direction of design in the 18 footers. They proposed the removal of beam and depth restrictions, now their talk was about to be replaced by action.
Alf 'Toby' Whereat revolutionised the 16 footer class when he dispensed with the 'heel', which gave a much lighter hull, and won five of the eleven Queensland 16s successes.
At the 1932 interstate 16 footer regatta in Sydney, Brisbane boat owner Fred Hart claimed to SFS 18 footer sailors, that Queensland could build a skiff type 18 footer that could beat them and returned to Brisbane where he commissioned Alf Whereat to build the first 'heel-less' 7ft beam skiff, which he named Aberdare.
Skippered by Vic Vaughan, Aberdare was Gunter rigged and off the wind gathered great speed with mainsail, reaching jib, ringtail and peak head spinnaker, and carried a crew of seven. Her critics disliked her lack of sail carrying size and claimed it would affect the spectacle required by the 18
She easily won the Queensland selection trials and arrived in Sydney for the 1932-33 Australian Championship with a big reputation, but the light southerly wind that year didn't suit her smaller sail area and she only finished third behind Charlie Hayes' Arawatta and Bill Fisher's Australia. (All Australian Championships up to 1932-33 were decided by a single race)
Despite the result, Aberdare showed enough potential to impress several Sydney sailors who then wanted to build a similar type of boat. One owner, Bob Cuneo commissioned Whereat build him a similar boat, named The Mistake, and applied to have it registered at the SFS.
The SFS had to grant the registration as there was no rule preventing the new type of boat, but once the registration had been granted, they voted to have them debarred, and closed the register. It was a decision which changed the future of 18 footers racing in NSW as the other sailors who wanted the new type of boat decided to form their own club.
James Giltinan organised a meeting of the unhappy sailors at the NSW Rugby League's Club and following the meeting, the resulting NSW 18 Footers Sailing League announced that it had made an agreement with the Brisbane 18 Footers Sailing Club to stage the 1935 Australian 18ft Championship as its first event on Sydney Harbour. The first race conducted by the new club was Race 1 of the 1934-35 Australian Championship on February 3, 1935.
Aberdare had already won the 1933-34 contest on the Brisbane River and easily retained her title, with victories in the first and third races of the championship. The event was an unqualified success and gave the new organisation the confidence to move forward at pace to secure its future.
Having introduced the new 7ft beam 'heel-less' skiff type 18 footer, it was hardly surprising that Queensland went on a long streak of domination over the next nineteen years.
From Aberdare's first Australian Championship victory in 1934 until Norman Wright Jr's victory with Jenny V on Sydney Harbour in 1953, the Queenslanders won 12 of the 15 regattas sailed on each side of the five-year break due to WW2. It was a magnificent performance by excellent designers, boat builders and competitors against opposition from the best NSW teams.
As well as the string of national victories by Queensland-built skiffs, there were three additional wins by Norman R. Wright (senior) and Charlie Crowley creations in World and Australian championships for NSW owners.
After Alf Whereat passed away from pneumonia in December 1932, his foreman (Crowley) produced Malvina, which won the 1937-38 nationals for 'Billo' Hayward on the Brisbane River. Wright built Taree in 1937 for Bert Swinbourne, who won the 1938 worlds in Sydney and Crows Nest (originally built as Iris in 1946) for 'Billo' Hayward, who won the 1948 worlds in Auckland.
Lance Watts was not only a brilliant skipper who won the 1931-32 Australian Championship in Tangalooma (an old style boat) he also won four more Australian titles, in new type boats, between 1939-40 (Marjorie) and 1949-50 (Culex III).
His most prolific period came after WW2 when he built the Marconi-rigged Culex in 1946, which was the first of his 6ft beamers. Two other new boats were also built that year by Norman Wright Jr. One, Jenny Too was built for himself and the other, Australia was for Bill Stanley. All were lighter than previous boats and had smaller sail areas; all carried a six-member crew, rather than the usual seven or eight.
The three boats totally dominated the 1946-47 Australian Championship on Sydney Harbour. Australia won the title from Jenny Too and Culex, which led to Sydney owners purchasing Jenny Too and Culex. Wright Jr and Watts needed to build new boats for themselves; Wright Jr built Jenny III while Watts built Culex II.
On the Brisbane River, the new boats were too good for the NSW teams and again dominated the event. Culex II won two straight races to take the series. Even the defending champion, Australia was outclassed by the new boats.
For the 1949-50 season, Lance Watts built Culex III, which was more radical than his previous boats. She had only 250 sq. ft. of working sail and was crewed by just four hands. In the 1949-50 Australian Championship on the Brisbane River, Culex III and Jenny III produced a series of thrilling battles. Jenny III won the first race but Culex III came back with wins in each of the next two races to win the title.
In the 1950s, Norman Wright Jr became the man to take over the position as Queensland's top 18 footer competitor. He racked up three 2nd placings and two 3rd placings over five years prior to winning his first Australian Championship, with Jenny IV, in 1951-52. He went on to win the 1952-53 championship with Jenny V then the 1955-56 and 1957-58 championships with Jenny VI, and capped it off by winning the 1956 World Championship with Jenny VI on the open waters of Waterloo Bay.
Wright was instrumental in achieving another world 18 footer championship victory for Queensland in 1961.
It began when he answered a request from the Brisbane 18 footers SC to design a cheap, easy to build 18 footer, to help rebuild its club fleet. He agreed after discussing the situation with Bob Miller (later, better known as Ben Lexcen), who had a sail loft near Wright's sheds.
The resulting 'package' in 1959, named Taipan, was a light, low wooded chine 6ft beam ply hull, two-thirds decked, a three-man crew and an inboard rig with a large overlapping genoa. Part 18 footer, part Flying Dutchman and part Sharpie. It looked nothing like any 18 footer had ever looked. According to Wright at the time, "Basically the hull is my conception and the rig is Bob's, although both of us had a finger in the other's pie".
Both had sailed Flying Dutchmen (FD) and realised the tremendous upwind capabilities, and as cost was a major factor, they believed that small, efficient sails and rig on an easily constructed plywood chine hull was the answer.
Taipan was built and rigged in a hurry and caused a lot of 'negative' comment from traditional class supporters, who claimed she was not only different but also ugly, "She had a slight reverse sheer, a three man crew, a deck, no bowsprit and a pitiful sail area."
Taipan went to Auckland for the 1960 World Championship but she had to be 'rebuilt' at the venue, prior to the regatta, to meet class rules. Numerous gear problems ruined any hope of a successful regatta for the revolutionary skiff but, despite the problems experienced by Miller at Auckland, there was little doubt about the follow-up to the Taipan design in 1961.
Len Heffernan was impressed and tried to get the SFS to allow three-handers to race with the club, but many members wanted to retain the 'open boat' spirit of the older 18s, and strongly resisted the move. Len built a compromise four-handed boat for the 1960-61 season, while
Wright and Miller built a follow-up, named Venom, for the 1960-61 season, which was stronger and lighter than Taipan, without the reverse sheer, but with moulded round topsides, and complied with the decking restrictions. Wright and Miller saw the major advances coming from the rig and sails. More roach in a fully battened main, 100% overlap in the genoa and 500 sq. ft. mast head spinnaker.
Venom emphatically proved the success of her design when she won the 1961 World Championship on the Brisbane River. After capsizing before the start of the first race, she won the next four races to dominate the championship.
Unfortunately, the wonderful success that Queensland designers, builders and competitors had achieved over the past 30 years dried up completely after Venom's victory and Queensland hasn't won an international or interstate regatta since 1961.
Hopefully, the ground work being done by Dave Hayter and Josh Sloman and their respective crews will lead to a comeback for Queensland in the future.