It’s hard to believe that for three years straight, the Aussies were unable to win the JJ Giltinan 18-foot skiff trophy in their own backyard. Howie Hamlin won it twice for USA, and then Rob Greenhalgh won it for Britain.
In recent years it has gone back to business as usual, with the Aussies dominating proceedings on Sydney Harbour. Pre-event favourites, the Gotta Love It 7 team skippered by Seve Jarvin, lived up to their billing and won the unofficial 18 footer World Championship with a race to spare, although as you can see from the photo above, nobody’s perfect.
They have trained harder, been coached harder, and funded better than pretty much any other team. Although nowhere near the professional level of the old Grand Prix circuit which folded in the mid-90s, the standard is going up by the year, and the 7 team have taken it to a new level. This has been a cause for resentment, as Simon Nelson’s report reveals. Simon has just completed his first JJ, complete with broken hand, having moved out from the UK to Sydney a year ago. This is what he had to say.
We had a mixed JJ, finishing worse than we hoped and worse than most people believed we actually were. This is because we were in the top 10 at some mark in 4 out of 7 races. We just couldn’t stay there.
And talking about the number 7, the boys on 7 did a stunning job. Don’t get misled by comments regarding budgets, coaches etc. these guys sailed out of their skin when it mattered. Others had as much new gear. Others had trained as much (Fiat were their training partners) but it was Seve, Sam and Rob who pulled it off.
I chatted with a fair amount of the boat park about 7’s advantages and it was clear to me that the further back you went in the fleet, the more people felt it was unfair. Then there were a few who were simply envious with comments regarding how their families had money and therefore somebody else should have had the 7 support. Finally, there were those who consider 18 racing as a Sunday afternoon club race and that the top guys go against the spirit of this!
I expect that next year we will see even higher standards. While at least one top crew are stopping (Asko) and others are toning down their effort, rumours of new blood include the two Nathans, Outteridge [reigning 49er World Champion] and Wilmot [three-time 470 World Champion]. I expect properly funded campaigns from at least one of them.
The other interesting news is of the Brits. We already knew that Rob Greenhalgh is getting his new boat on the water, the really interesting news is that Andy Budgen has ordered a new boat and will be living in Sydney next summer and will be sailing the whole season at the League.
In the mean time, attention moves to Moths with the 18 footer league flying club (John Harris, Scott Babbage and myself) starting our training on Saturday. I think that the Moth Worlds in Weymouth have one of the highest quality fleets you could ever want to compete in! It should be interesting.
I am not sure that Rohan will compete as he doesn’t seem to have the desire at the moment and he doesn’t have a boat. I don’t think he believes he has a lot left to prove and Weymouth will be a difficult one for him as it is as good as home for so many of the contenders. The Weymouth conditions will also reduce his boat handling advantage.
In addition, I think he also fancies the idea of coaching one of the Bladerider sailors to the title – a new challenge. However, nearer the time, who knows how he will feel!
Thanks to Simon for the insights from Sydney. As to the professionalism of the winners, if they’re playing by the rules, that’s all you can ask of them. If 18 sailors don’t like getting beaten by a team that trains harder than they do, then they should change the rules and make it an amateur status class. Until that point, people should give credit where credit’s due. And if they think they’ve seen rampant professionalism this year, if those Nathans do get into campaigning 18-foot skiffs, then you ain’t seen nothing yet. These young Olympians will take it to a higher level again.
By the way, Simon’s blog is an entertaining insight into the trials and tribulations of 18-foot skiff campaigning on the League circuit in Sydney. Read it here…
Photo courtesy of Luca Villata
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: 18 foot skiff, Gotta Love It 7, JJ Giltinan, Seve Jarvin
