PHOTOS: Highs and lows for 18ft Skiffs

Current JJ Giltinan champion Michael Coxon has been sailing 18s for around 20 seasons and during that time has won four JJ titles – the unofficial class world championship – and five Australian Championships as well as numerous other major titles, but even the world’s best can have good and bad days when you are racing an 18ft Skiff around Sydney Harbour.

Coxon, a member of one of Australia’s most respected sailing families of world and international champions and Olympians, says that it’s critical to stay focused to the best of your ability at all times.

“Naturally, you are always striving for more speed, but when you are traveling at speed, particularly under spinnaker, things happen very quickly, especially with the increased traffic on Sydney Harbour. The 18s accelerate quickly, but they can also stop just as fast if they hit the wake off some passing power boat.”

Photos by Frank Quealey: