16ft & 13ft Skiff Port Jackson Championship at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club
by Adam Lucius 21 Oct 06:26 BST
18 October 2025
Zoe Dransfield thought her boyfriend was joking when he told her he might be able to secure one of the world's best sailors to fill in on Red Pumps Red for Saturday's Port Jackson Championships. And who could blame her?
After all, what were the odds of Olympic gold medallist, nine-time world championship and America's Cup winner - not to mention 2010 World Sailor of the Year - Tom Slingsby being both available and interested? - Pretty good, as it turns out.
He was not only all in but hungry to add the prestigious Port Jackson title - first raced for in 1949/50 - to his vast collection of silverware. With Slingsby on the sheet, Dransfield and 20-year-old bowman Jamie Stodart sailed a near perfect race to hold off Manly clubmates Modern Concept Constructions (Spencer McKay) and Buckingham Marine Services (Daniel Turner).
St George's Bosker Build was fourth and Botany Access (Chris Thomas) crossed the line fifth, meaning Manly boats filled four of the first five places. Dransfield - the first female Manly skipper to win the Port Jackson - is still pinching herself she had the opportunity to sail alongside Slingsby.
"I thought it was a joke when my boyfriend (champion sailor Ben Lamb) said Tom was keen to sail with me given that he's normally overseas and would typically be on a very good day rate," she said. "I feel really privileged to have had the opportunity to sail with Slingers. He's obviously an incredible sailor but also super humble and encouraged us to contribute to the tactical decisions too.
"On the sail out to the race course he told us he was 'unoffendable' and to assume he knew nothing about sailing 16s. "It was a bit intimidating at first and Jamie and I were a bit nervous, but he really put us at ease from the get-go and welcomed our input.
"What impressed me most about his sailing was how calm and collected he was and how well he read the shifts by looking at the wind on the water. "I really feel like I learnt so much from sailing with him and would love to do it again."
But even with sailing royalty onboard, Red Pumps Red did not have things all their own way against a 63-strong fleet in a light and tricky east-sou' easterly. MCC - with 17-year-old McKay taking a break from HSC studies - led the fleet down near the Harbour Bridge before RPR put the foot down.
Dransfield said: "Full credit to Ruffy (Turner) and Spencer for making it a really interesting race. "We made a few good strategical calls on the short beat back up to Shark Island and were able to attain a solid lead from there.
"But it definitely was one of those races where it wasn't over until the very end."
The hand-to-hand combat racing - combined with the star power of Slingsby and three other Olympic sailors in the fleet - kept viewers enthralled right to the finish. With high profile Olympian Lisa Darmanin and three-time national 16s champion Clint Bowen behind the microphone, Sail Media's excellent livestream coverage attracted massive numbers. The sailing world was, indeed, watching.
In the 13s, Harken's Heidi Bates and Orlando Sadlik can't stop winning. They dominated the 13s to such an extent they overtook a good portion of the 16s after a 10-minute head start. Buckingham Marine (Ash Napper/Theo Franklin) was almost five minutes behind in second with another Manly boat - Red Pumps Manly (Jemma Hopkins/) third.
In the lucrative handicap division, Manly's Bigfoot Sailing (Lily Klijn/Joe Corbel) took home the 13s title, with St George entrant Noakes (Amy Mulkearns) saluting in the 16s.
Overall Results: