Opposite: two-time JJ Giltinan champion Julian Bethwaite at the helm of AAMI racing at Hayman Island during the last televised Grand Prix Sailing Series in 1993. Bethwaite’s JJ Giltinan world titles came in 1991 and 1992 with the AAMI crew also winning the Grand Prix Series in 1992 and 1993. Bethwaite then retired from skiff sailing to join his father Frank to design and develop the 49er Olympic skiff, to be followed four years later by the creation of the 29er feeder skiff and then in 2005 with the Skud 18 keelboat that he co-designed with Martin Billoch. Below: the 18-footers have been using a one-design hull since the mid-1990s but rigs are still relatively unrestricted with the development of some outrageous fat-head mains… so still plenty enough horsepower to make a splash (sorry)
they were before 1993. The hulls are also far superior in terms of construction to the often fragile previous designs and the longevity has improved beyond compari- son. Instead of spending a fortune creating a one-year wonder, for significantly less money you can now obtain a boat that remains competitive for several seasons… if well cared for. Since 1993 the League has spent more
than $AUS15 million on the production and maintenance of its fleet and the pro- motion of the 18-footers at regular regattas in the USA, Europe and New Zealand. Before the rule changes in 1993 only
seven New Zealand teams had been suc- cessful in the 42 JJ Giltinan Championship regattas conducted to date. There had also been no winners from any of the other six or seven countries that had competed in the championship. During the past 27 years, however,
since the new rules were introduced, there have been two winners from the UK, two from the USA, three from New Zealand – in total at least 21 countries have now been represented at the fleet’s annual world championship regatta. Also, in 2013, two teams, one led by Alexandra South (Australia) and one by Katie Love (USA), became the first all-female teams to contest the prestigious event.
Winning influence It needs to be mentioned here that Aus- tralian 18-Footer League President John (Woody) Winning has been such a central part of the League’s programme for the entire 16 years of his presidency. The former JJ Giltinan champion and successful ocean racer has a passion for the history of the class and the men who have taken it from Mark Foy’s inaugural regatta day in 1892 to where it is today. That is why John is often referred to as ‘the modern-day Mark Foy’. In addition, over many years his family
company has actively encouraged many of its own clients to become sponsors of skiffs. The Winning Group currently sponsors two 18-footers in the fleet – The Winning Group for John Winning Jr, and AppliancesOnline for skiff builder Brett Van Munster. ‘Woody’ himself not only races in the
Historical 18s each Saturday at the Sydney Flying Squadron, but completes his week- ends by racing his modern 18ft skiff Yandoo in the League’s fleet every Sunday. The Winning family is also responsible
for the introduction of video coverage of 18ft skiff racing on Sydney Harbour, and its development to the livestreaming of all of the 18-footer racing we have today. Kerrie and John Winning, along with the late Bob (Killo) Killick, had the vision of presenting
18ft skiff racing on Sydney Harbour to the world and now the AeroMedia Live Broad- cast team are making it happen with live streaming of all races throughout the season.
One-design to the rescue
– Brett Van Munster Brett Van Munster has been building 18ft skiffs for the Australian 18 Footers League since 2006-2007 and his outstanding con- struction ability and techniques have dra- matically changed the quality and longevity of these much abused high-performance hulls. Before the class moved to a one- design hull in 1993 a new hull every year was an essential requirement for success in the major championships. However, Brett’s skill and build innovations mean that present-day hulls have a competitive life of up to five or six seasons. Van Munster gives a simple explanation of the highly technical, and very precise, building process he employs… Our challenge is to build boats that are
very light, yet strong enough to meet the high demands – particularly in terms of slamming loads and longitudinal rigidity – of 18ft skiff racing. We only have a small team but we’ve got the expertise to work with the same materials as are common in top-level motorsport and the aerospace sectors. Gurit source and supply us with all
SEAHORSE 57
FRANK QUEALEY
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