Australia is the home of the skiff and extreme dinghy sailing, epitomised by the over canvassed 18ft Skiffs on Sydney Harbour.
But the extreme sailing Aussies do not restrict themselves to the 18 footers or their gift to Olympic sailing of the 49er. Just about any size dinghy is upgraded with more canvas and additional crew numbers on reaching down under.
And this past week has seen two examples hitting the water, the 16ft skiffs and its 13ft youth version, racing for their 2022 Red Pumps Australian Championships held by Belmont 16s on Lake Macquarie in New South Wales.
The 16 footers weigh in at 75 kilos with mainsail and jib of 22.00 square metres plus large masthead asymmetrical spinnakers, all held down by a three-person crew, two on trapeze.
The 2022 National Championship attracted a 46 strong fleet, with a unique collection of high-profile competitors from Olympic, SailGP and America’s Cup sailing taking part.
Winners were the Ronstan crew of Nathan Wilmot, Malcolm Page and Brett Davis.
Finishing just one point ahead of the IMEI crew of David Gilmour, Trent Barnabas and Rob Napper and a further point back, the Moonen Yachts crew of Daniel Turner, Angus Williams and Matt Stenta.
In fourth were the Brydens Lawyers crew of Lee Knapton, Peter Mackie and Ricky Bridge, holding off the fifth placed all-star crew of Nathan Outteridge, Tom Slingsby and Iain Jensen.
Full results available here . . .
The video high-speed action, thrills and a few spills were captured by Mark Rothfield of Promocean Media. Header NFPG image Mark Rothfield.
