Tuesday, March 1, 2016
18-Footer - JJ Giltinan Triophy - Sydney AUS - the video
The 2016 JJ Giltinan Trophy, the inofficial World Championship of the 18-footers on Sydney Harbour, has been covered daily live on this website 10 days ago. In addtion to the integral videos of each race, a three-minutes summary video, taken from a drone, has been published. Impressive among other takes the pin-end start of 'Thurlow Fisher Lawyers' (after approx. 2 minutes of the film) leading to a race win.
A light, unconstant and shifty breeze prevailed on Sydney Harbour for the final race of the 2016 JJ Giltinan Trophy this morning. The fleet was quickly stretched over a big area and as yesterday, it was 'Yamaha' with David McDiarmid/Matthew Steven/Bradley Collins NZL superior in light winds taking the gun and moving up on rank 2 overall, a result never achieved by a New Zealand team during the past years. 'Smeg' with Lee Knapton/Mike McKensey/Ricky Bridge AUS defended the first place by one point and is the winner of the JJ Giltinan Trophy interrupting the 8-years' dominance of 'Gotta love it 7' of Seve Jarvin AUS and his team, remaining on rank 4 overall. The Bronze medal went to 'Appliances Online' with David 
The start of race 6 of the 18 footer JJ Giltinan was delayed this morning and the fleet departed at 5.30 h UTC only. 'Thurlow Fisher Lawyers' with Michael Coxon AUS jumped in the lead right from the start with a starboard start and is controlling the race at a good distance from the rest of the fleet. 'Gotta love it 7' rounded the upwind mark as 2nd and the best-ranked of the overall leader trio. The race on air now might last until 7 UTC. The 
Layday today in Sydney after 5 of the 7 races of the JJ Giltinan Trophy. On Saturday and Sunday, the two races on the busy Sydney Harbour waters, stirred up even more by the weekend boaters and spectators, will decide on the final outcome. The ranking list after five heats is leveled as never for years. 'Smeg' with Lee Knapton AUS replaced the tied 'Appliances online' with David Witt AUS on top. The defending champion Seve Jarvin AUS and his 'Gotta love it 7' team are still in the race for the title with a 4 points' backlog. 
Just at press closure 6 hrs UTC, the fifth race of the 18-footer JJ Giltinan Trophy finished in Sydney, an entertaining race in light winds with many position changes. At end, it was 'Asko' (Marcus Ashley AUS) crossing line ahead of 'Smeg' (Lee Knapton AUS). The discard in effect, 'Appliances Online' and 'Smeg' are now on top at equal points, and the last races of Saturday and Sunday after tomorrow's lay day will be full of excitement. Livestream coverage on this page again starting at 4h UTC. 
Race 4 of the JJ Giltinan Trophy this morning was again sailed in an unconstant 3 to 12 kn breeze, and the winner of this very tactical race was 'Smeg' (Lee Knapton AUS). 'Appliances Online' (David Witt AUS) extended the overall lead with a 2nd race rank. 'Yamaha' with David McDiarmid NZL as 3rd finished for the first time on the podium. 'Smeg' is now 2nd overall behind 'Appliances Online'. 'Gotta love it 7' follows on rank 3. The 
The 3rd race of the JJ Giltinan inofficial 18-footer World Championship this morning was pretty fast inspite of the unconstant and shifty breeze. Many position changes occurred during the race and at the end of the day, it was 'Appliances online' with Dave Witt AUS having the upper hand. 'Gotta love it 7' with Seve Jarvin AUS finished 2nd by a small margin on 'Compass' with York Keagan AUS joining the leading group for the first time. With this second race win, 'Appliances online' has taken the overall lead, but the other favorites are not far behind. 
The light-wind forecast and the 2-hours' postponement of the start tempted a number of teams to race with the big rig. Surprisingly, the breeze filled in quickly on up to 20 kn and numerous teams turned over. Among the capsizes was also the winner of race one, 'Gotta love it 7' with Seve Jarvin AUS, and with rank 7 at the end of the day, she dropped on rank 4 overall. 'Appliances online' (David Witt AUS) won race 2 ahead of 'Smeg' (Lee Knapton AUS) and 'Thurlow Fisher Lawyers' (Michael Coxon AUS), the new overall leader.
Very calm conditions on Sydney Harbour today after yesterday's fresh breeze, and the start to the second race of the JJ Giltinan Trophy had to be postponed to 6 a.m. UTC, so racing is underway now and can be followed live stream on our website. 
The start to the first race of the JJ Giltinan Trophy on Sydney Harbour was given today at 5.15 UTC in a fresh breeze around 16 kn, and the race is still underway at press closure (6 a.m). The race is spectacular, some teams are sailing with the big rig, and already on the first upwind, a number of teams capsized. The waves of the many spectator boats during this weekend add even more difficuties. Under Spi, the skiffs reach speeds of almost 30 kn ! To note, that the New Zealand Team C-Tech is the only one with a 4-person team. 
The JJ Giltinan-Trophy on Sydney Harbour began today with a tune-up race, and it appears, that the outcome of the Championship will be very disputed, as the dominators during years and defending Champions on 'Gotta love it 7' had a reduced 18-footer activity due to their engagement in the America's-Cup. 
