Three-peat win at JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship 2020

In the absence of a world title for the 18ft Skiff Class, the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship is it, held annually in Sydney, Australia. For a region that likes to go fast, and a legion of legends with names on the trophy, the 2020 edition provided another worthy chapter.

Sydney, AUS (March 19, 2020) – Defending champion Honda Marine team of David McDiarmid, Matt Steven, and Brad Collins took out the third consecutive JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship after another impressive performance in the final two races of the regatta on Sydney Harbour.

Going into today’s final two races, Honda Marine held a four point lead over Winning Group (Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton, Scott Babbage) and the scene was set for a spectacular finish between the two champion teams.

Conditions were perfect for the day’s racing on Sydney Harbour. A warm sunny day with a 10-15 knots North East wind, perfect for the teams to use their big #1 rigs.

Honda Marine, as she had done so often during the series, came from behind with brilliant boat speed to take out the first race (Race 8) by 33s, which was enough to take the title before going into the final race (Race 9).

In Race 9, Winning Group led all the way to defeat Honda Marine by 22s, with Tech2 finally producing somewhere near her best form to finish in third place, a further 19s behind Honda Marine.

Final Results:
1. Honda Marine(David McDiarmid, Matt Steven, Brad Collins), 14
2. Winning Group (Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton, Scott Babbage), 18
3. Smeg (Micah Lane, Ricky Bridge, Peter Harris), 41
4. Shaw & Partners Financial Services (James Dorron, Harry Bethwaite, Tim Tim Westwood), 43
5. Tech2 (Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt, Trent Barnabas), 44

In the day’s first race, Winning Group with its 4-times JJ winning team sailed a great race but couldn’t hold out against the speed of Honda Marine over the final lap of the two-lap course.

Noakesailing (Sean Langman, Nathan Edwards, Ed Powys) was 36s behind Winning Group in third place, followed by Bird & Bear (Tom Clout), URM (Marcus Ashley-Jones) and Australian champion Tech2 (Jack Macartney).

Determined to reverse the result of the earlier race, the Winning Group team were quick to get into a strong position ahead of Honda Group and, after trailing the early leader Shaw & Partners Financial Services, were 12s ahead of Finport Finance at the top mark, ahead of a tightly bunched group of Smeg, Shaw & Partners and Honda Marine.

Winning Group increased the margin to 30s at the bottom mark and this time were able to retain the lead over the final lap of the course to defeat Honda Marine by 22s, with Tech2 coming home ion third place, a further 19s behind Honda Marine.

Smeg finished in fourth place, ahead of Finport Finance and Shaw & Partners Financial Services. Smeg’s fourth place in Race 9 enabled the team to finish third overall in the championship, just two points ahead of Shaw & Partners.

Race details – Online broadcast – Series results – Photos

Race schedule:
March 14 Race 1
March 15 Race 2
March 17 Races 3, 4, 5
March 18 Races 6 & 7
March 19 Race 8 & 9

Entries for 2020 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship:
Honda Marine: David McDiarmid, Matt Steven, Brad Collins
Winning Group: John Winning Jr., Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton
Finport Finance: Keagan York, Matt Stenta, Angus Williams
Shaw & Partners Financial Services: James Dorron, Harry Bethwaite, Tim Westwood
Smeg: Micah Lane, Ricky Bridge, Peter Harris
C-Tech: Alex Vallings, Sam Trethewey, Matt Coutts
Tech2: Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt, Trent Barnabas
Appliancesonline.com.au: Brett Van Munster, Phil Marshall, Kurt Fatouris
The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines: Aron Everett, Courtney Mahar, Charlie Gundy
Noakesailing: Sean Langman, Ed Powys, Nathan Edwards
The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone: Jordan Girdis, Lachlan Doyle, Tom Quigley
Yandoo: John Winning, Mike Kennedy, Jasper Warren
Vintec: Kirk Mitchell, Pete Nicholson, Matt Wark
Maersk Line: Peron Pearse, Eli Liefting, Harry Clark
Rag & Famish Hotel: Bryce Edwards, Jacob Broom, Rory Cox
Birkenhead Point Marina: Tom Anderson, Elliot Scali, Tom Arkens
URM: Marcus Ashley-Jones, Cam Gundy, Lewis Brake
Ilve: Pedro Vozone, Matt Doyle, Jerome Watts
Queenslander: David Hayter, Nathaniel Dutton, Elliot Mahar
Dal Zotto: Jack Sprague, Josh Feldmann, Marc Chapon
Noakes Blue: Yvette Heritage, Rory Hunter, Oliver Scott-Mackie
Bird & Bear: Tom Clout, Cameron McDonald, John Walton
Lumix: Alex Watson, Cooper Richmond, Ben Roxburgh
QMC: Matt Rogers, Darren Rogers, Steve Wilson

Source: Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.