2017-2018 Season for 18ft Skiffs on Sydney Harbour - Preview
by Kimberley Montague 17 Sep 2017 22:33 BST
15 September 2017
Sydney Harbour belonged to Smeg in race 2 of the 18ft Skiff Australian Championship © Frank Quealey
With less than a month to go till the start of the Australian 18 Footers sailing season, the excitement is building for another big summer of racing. The 2017/18 racing season will see changes to the racing formats, some new teams and sponsors and in March the Australian/New Zealand rivalry will be hot.
Racing kicks off on Sunday October 8 with the first race of the Spring Championship. A seven race series of three buoys racing. Then it is straight into the NSW Championship. This five race series will run from November through to January with three weeks off for Christmas.
The Australian Championship starts on January 21, 2018 and will see the fleet completing two races a day. Smeg bowman Mike McKensey is looking forward to the introduction of more racing. "It is a great chance to get some more racing practice in before the JJ Giltinan starts in March," he said.
The JJ Giltinan Championship runs from March 2 to 11 and will see a fleet of international teams try to steal the trophy from the Australians. The New Zealand team of Yamaha will be leading the charge with some unfinished business from the last two JJ Giltinan Championships. Some unfortunate circumstances has seen Dave McDiarmid's team finish second for the last two years.
This year's 18 Footers racing season will be filled with great action and plenty of spectacular capsizes. You can follow all the action online with our live stream, Facebook and Twitter pages.
Or head out on the spectator ferry to get right in the middle of the action. The 18 Footers Spectator Ferry leaves Double Bay Wharf at 2:15pm on race days. Tickets can be bought from reception and children under 14 are free. The spectator ferry is the best way to catch the racing and see Sydney Harbour.