Australian 16ft Skiff Championships
Strong fleet flying high for the prestigious Championships today and tomorrowA 32-strong fleet of 16ft Skiffs and eight 13ft Skiffs are battling it out for their respective Australian Skiff Championships out of Drummoyne on Sydney Harbour today and tomorrow.
The Championships are one of the key activities for the Drummoyne Club’s 100th year anniversary celebrations and the Club has put up $25,480 in prizemoney for the series.
Along with the hot racing is a program of social activities for every day of the series. Parents with children are welcome in the club's Sailor's Bar area on the lower ground floor or in the Bistro area.
The 16 Skiff is a uniquely Australian high performance dinghy. The class has a long history being sailed for over 100 years. During this time the class has seen many developments.
Today's skiffs have a three-person crew, two on trapeze, and fly large masthead asymmetrical spinnakers.
There are currently more than 90 boats registered through 10 clubs and regattas regularly attract fleets of up to 50 boats. Most 16ft sailing clubs have excellent facilities and actively support sailing in other smaller dinghy classes.
To contain costs and to provide closer racing, strict design rules where introduced in 1997/98 for hull design and construction. These design rules also fixed the number of masts and sails which could be registered for the Australian Championship Series.
Only two masts can be used and the number of sails is limited to three jibs, two main sails and two spinnakers. Boats utilise these sails in combinations to give different rig sizes which can be selected for optimal performance in different wind strengths.
More at http://www.skiffs.org.au.
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