JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship 2026 presented by The Winning Group - Race 2
by Frank Quealey 8 Mar 10:35 GMT
6-15 March 2026
JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship 2026 Race 2 - Action on the first spinnaker run © SailMedia
Cliff Monkhouse Memorial Trophy
Race Day Partner: Fisher & Paykel
Race 2 of the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by The Winning Group, produced conditions totally opposite to those of the opening race but the result was the same as the outstanding defending champion Yandoo team took the honours with another display of brilliant crew work on Sydney Harbour today.
Skippered by John Winning Jr, with Fang Warren on the sheet and Lewis Brake in the bow, Yandoo won the start at the boat end of the line and was never headed as the blue-hulled flyer led for the entire long Southerly course in wind that ranged from 20+ knots at the start to a near zero as the crew battled to finally cross the finish with a 4m48s margin in hand.
It was an awesome display and one that has Yandoo in a very strong position to win a third consecutive JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship.
After Yandoo had established a lead 55s at the end of the second leg of the course, the battle for the next two spots on the podium became the centre of interest for the spectators and they weren't disappointed as four teams battled for the two positions.
Queensland's GC Sails (Scott Cunningham, Joel Turner and Dave Cunningham) grabbed second placing just metres from the line to finish 1s ahead of the New Zealand's Shaw and Partners Financial Services team of Eli Liefting, Sam Street and Josh Schon and Lazarus Capital Partners (Tom Cunich, Marc Chapon and Tim Westwood) which was just another 1s back in fourth place.
Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell, Andrew Stephenson and Daniel Barnett) finished fifth ahead of Australia's Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Keagan York. Max Paul and Tom Anderson) which recovered well after being below its best earlier in the race.
Following the two races completed so far, Yandoo heads the points table with a total of 2 points, followed by Shaw and Partners Financial Services-Australia and Shaw and Partners Financial Services-New Zealand both on 8, GC Sails on 9, Rag & Famish Hotel (Ben Crafoord) on 11, and Lazarus Capital Partners on 13.
Vaikobi is next on 15 points, followed by Fisher & Paykel on 19, Balmain also on 19 and Germany's Black Knight (Heinrich Von Bayern) on 23 points, to round out the Top-10.
The strong wind prior to the race caused a number of capsizes but the race to the weather mark was closely fought before Yandoo got the upper hand to lead Big Foot Bags & Covers (Aron Everett) by 20, followed by Shaw and Partners-NZ, Rag & Famish, GC Sails, Lazarus, The Kitchen Maker (Lachlan Steel), Vaikobi and Sixt (Jacob Marks).
A flying spinnaker run to Obelisk was spectacular as the skiffs raced at high speeds. Yandoo's crew were outstanding and increased their lead to 55s over Lazarus which edged ahead of Big Fooy, GC Sails, Shaw and Partners-NZ and Balmain.
NZ's ASCC (Campbell Stanton) was another big improver and rounded in seventh place ahead of Black Knight and Vaikobi.
GC Sails was impressive on the beat back to the Shark Island mark where she reduced the leader's margin back to 42s but after the long 2-sail reach across the harbour to Athol Bay Yandoo had extended it again to more than 50s.
The margin was out further, to 1m25s, at the Clark Island mark as spinnakers were set for the second run to Obelisk, however this time conditions had changed in both wind direction and strength. It made no difference to the leader which put the race beyond any doubt when there was now two minutes between Yandoo and Lazarus, which rounded the mark inside GC Sails.
White caps had disappeared and the wind was down on the earlier strength over the next two legs of the course as Lazarus, GC Sails and Shaw and Partners-NZ battled hard for the minor placings.
To complete another erratic sailing day of wind conditions on Sydney Harbour this summer, as the leaders headed for the finish line in an overcast mist and rain the wind that had been in excess of 20-knots at the start of the race was now gone and all teams were struggling to reach the finish line.
Races 3 and 4 of the championship will be sailed on Tuesday (March 10). The two-race per day format often throws up an unusual result or some drama which could radically change the scoreboard.
The Australian 18 Footers League's spectator ferry will follow all race days during the championship and tickets may be purchased here.
SailMedia will also live stream every race during the 2026 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship, presented by The Winning Group.
Race Dates:
- Tuesday March 10, 2026 Races 3 & 4, Alan Cole Memorial Trophy
- Wednesday March 11, 2026 Races 5 & 6, AJ Reynolds Trophy
- Thursday March 12, 2026 Race 7, Bill Miller Memorial Trophy
- Saturday March 14, 2026 Race 8, Bill Kite Memorial Trophy
- Sunday March 15, 2026 Race 9, Ribbon and JJ Giltinan Trophy