18ft Skiff Season start only two weeks away

6:39 AM Sun 25 Sep 2011 GMT

'Fisher & Paykel - Sydney 18ft Skiffs' Ali Chapman - copyright Click Here to view large photo

With the start of the Sydney 18ft Skiff Season only two weeks away, it might be a good time to take a quick look back at some of the racing we saw on Sydney Harbour last season.

A few of Ali Chapman's images remind us of the action from 2010-2011 and what we may also expect again in the 2011-2012 Season. Ali is the sister of 18ft Skiff skipper Andrew Chapman (Fisher & Paykel) and is regularly on the Australian 18 Footer League's weekly spectator ferry following Andrew and the racing with her camera, but she is also a very accomplished sailor and coach.

Ali won the Flying 11 nationals with Andrew and is the present Australian Cherub champion. Currently sailing a 29er and occasionally steering on one of the demanding 12ft Skiffs certainly keeps Ali busy, but she has still managed to coach Sabots, Manly Juniors, Flying 11s, Cherubs and 29ers at some point or another over the past few years.

Who knows, in the near future we may yet see the multi-talented Ali skippering an 18ft Skiff with the Australian 18 Footer League.

First race of the 2011-2012 Australian 18 Footers League Season is the R. Watt Memorial Trophy (a three-buoys race) on Sunday 9 October.