Event Overview What: Winning Appliances 67th Australian Open 12 Foot Sailing Skiff Championship When: 2002 Easter Long weekend – 29th March to 1st April Where: Lane Cove Sailing Club – Stuart St, Longueville, NSW. Racing conducted on lower reaches of Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers, Sydney Harbour. Best place to see the action: From the Spectator ferry leaving from the Club soon after midday daily More Info?: http://www.lc12ftssc.org.au/ Introduction Lane Cove 12 Foot Sailing Skiff Club Inc. will be hosting the 2001-02 Australian Open 12 Foot Sailing Championship, to be held over 4 days on Sydney Harbour on the lower reaches of the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers at Easter, 2002. The 12 foot class of sailing craft has been racing in both Australia and New Zealand since the turn of the century. Today, with their unrestricted sail area held up by crews hanging on trapeze wires, they are a spectacular sailing vessel to see in action. As a comparison, 12 foot skiffs carry proportionally more sail area to their boat length than the perhaps better known 18 foot skiffs. What is a 12 foot skiff The 12 foot skiff is a development class racing dinghy with some basic restrictions on hull (length, beam and buoyancy) but having a totally unlimited sail area. The origin of the 12ft skiff remains something of a mystery, but it is recorded the class was sailing regularly at Lane Cove, Greenwich, Middle Harbour and Vaucluse as far back as 1924. In those times the twelves carried more that 28 m2 of working sails, plus spinnaker and ballooner, and were crewed by up to five hands. Hull design and construction methods started to develop with the advent of fibreglass skiffs in 1968 and have continued rapidly since. Pioneering materials such as Carbon fibre and Kevlar are now commonplace Crew numbers have reduced to two with both Skipper and for’hand on trapeze. Sail design has changed with the availability of Mylar and Kevlar and more recent development, a fixed spinnaker pole system that has allowed the twelves to carry much larger asymmetrical spinnakers. You only need to look at the changes to 12 footer designs over the years to see today’s 12 footers are an impressive racing craft with unsurpassed power to hull-size ratio. Twelves are obviously not for novices: they draw a continuous stream of high class “new blood” from junior and intermediate class racers, many having major championships under their belts. Many sailors migrate between the Twelves and the larger Eighteens. Fitness and balance are a necessary ingredient for success. A remark often heard is “If you can sail a Twelve you can sail anything. ” The Championship Series The 2001-02 Australian Open 12 Foot Sailing Championship will be contested on Sydney Harbour on the lower reaches of the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers over the Easter Long Weekend from the 29th March to 1st April, 2002. The series consists of 6 action packed races which traditionally are witnessed by large spectator fleets. The fierce competitive drive instilled over many years of patriotic rivalry between the States, in many varying sports, will ensure another sporting battle like the State of Origin. Who will make up the Australian 12 Foot Championship The strength of Australian 12 footer racing is along the waterways of the eastern seaboard. Historically the fleet has come from this area and we expect a large fleet from Queensland. A list of entries include: Boat Blockbuster Bus Bush Oyster Calici Coleman Constructions Datacall Bainbridge Dimension Polyant Dragon Blue Dukes of Hazzard East Coast Geotechnical Ex Aqua Fastway Couriers Garde Gemmell Sails Gizmo Grumble & Grunt Grumpy Old Men Hood Sails In Lieu Of JW Bell Lantern Rouge Skipper Crew Dave Ward Chris Sommers Nick Bernard James Francis Cameron McDonald David Knezevic Tony Hannan Warwick Havyatt Tim Morecombe Paul O'Malley-Jones Bill Oxby Chris Urquart Brett Hobson Andy Ogle Michael Bochner James Bevis Steve Adams Grame Colless Murray Press James Moore Ken Williams Lindsay McGinn Toby Stringer Nick Press David Winning Darren McKanagh Renn Holland Michael Bartley Michael Reid Tim Barraclough Randall Fitzsimon Ian Goodman TBA Alex Johnson Ben Gemmel Matthew Killoran Peter Bevis Will Chapman Bill Olsen Scott Hobson TBA Mark Barraclough Club Manly - Qld Manly - Qld Lane Cove Lane Cove Saratoga Sydney Flying Sydney Flying Lane Cove Lane Cove Manly - Qld Lane Cove Abbottsford Sydney Flying Sydney Flying Lane Cove Lane Cove Lane Cove Lane Cove Lane Cove Manly - Qld Lane Cove Squadron Squadron Squadron Squadron Ming Fes No Wucking Furies P & 0 Nedloyd Propaganda Reuter Computer Ribbons Rudog Snot Bloo Space Junk Tech Barn Team Speed The Boat Shop Vantage Real Estate Woof - Impact Building Yabba Dabba William Oxby Ashley Banks Jonathon Temple Joal McDonald Jacob Ronowicz Julian Moran Mitch Brown Dave Molloy TBA Rohan Coleman Peter Polec Simon Relf Jim Walsh Ken Saladine Michael Rooney TBA Richard Jones Brenden Mathews Steve Glen Farquhar Andrew Barney Dave Cleworth Richard Johns Alan Mudge Brad Greenrod Brett Phillips Peter Craig Brad Yabsley Lane Cove Sydney Flying Sydney Flying Manly - Qld Abbottsford Sydney Flying Manly - Qld Sydney Flying Sydney Flying Saratoga Abbottsford Lane Cove Sydney Flying Saratoga Squadron Squadron Squadron Squadron Squadron Squadron Numerous sailors vying for the Title will have already a State or National Championship in the twelves, Junior or intermediate class racing, so the fleet will be race hardened and chock full of experience ensuring fierce competition on the water. For more information, please see the event’s website at http://www.lc12ftssc.org.au/ other information is also available from the association website at http://www.skiff.org.au/.