Defending champion Michael Coxon brought Fiat home a winner of the fifth and final race of the Ssangyong Winning Appliances NSW 18ft Skiff Championship but it was John ‘Woody’ Winning’s Ssangyong Yandoo which was crowned the 2006 champion on Sydney Harbour on Sunday.

Fiat won today’s race by 1 minute 17 seconds from Fisher & Paykel, skippered by Andrew Cuddihy, with Ssangyong Yandoo a further 18 seconds back in third place.

Ssangyong Yandoo’s consistency throughout the series and the third placing today gave the team a total of 9 points, just one ahead of Fiat, with Club Marine (Euan Mc Nicol) in third place on 14 points.

Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris) was fourth on 19 points, followed by Asko Appliances (Hugh Stodart) on 22 and AAPT (Sean Langman) on 25.

Micah Lane’s Vic Sail won the start and crossed the fleet half way up the windward leg but lost out near Clarke Island to the skiffs on the right hand side of the course. AAPT led by just three seconds from Fiat at the mark followed by Fisher & Paykel, Vic Sail, Asko Appliances, Club Marine and Gotta Love It 7. Ssangyong Yandoo was back in 10th place.

AAPT and Fisher & Paykel elected not to set spinnakers for the first run while the rest of the leading group, led by Fiat, set theirs soon after rounding. At the leeward mark Fiat led narrowly from Fisher & Paykel while AAPT capsized near the buoy.

Gotta Love It 7, Club Marine and Asko were also victims on the run while Ssangyong Yandoo made up time to be placed fourth as the fleet approached Rose Bay.

Fiat thrilled the spectator fleet with a sensational spinnaker ride across the harbour from Rose Bay in the south to Athol Bay on the north shore.

By the end of the first lap of the course Fiat already had a race winning lead over Fisher & Paykel, Ssangyong Yandoo, Maytag, Omega Smeg, Vic Sail and Noakes Youth. Fiat had little difficulty maintaining the lead and most interest centred on the battle between Fisher & Paykel and Ssangyong Yandoo.

It was not only a battle between the two Skiffs but a battle between two different rigs as Fisher & Paykel had her number 1 rig against Ssangyong Yandoo’s number 2.

The capsizes on the second leg of the course robbed the race of an even tighter finish to the championship but the racing throughout has been excellent and sets the stage for even greater racing in the upcoming Australian and Giltinan Championships early in the new year.

Overall Results

1 Ssangyong Yandoo 9 points

2 Fiat 10

3 Club Marine 14

4 Rag & Famish Hotel 19

5 Asko Appliances 22

6 AAPT 25

7 Vic Sail 26

8 Omega Smeg 27

9 Delonghi 28

10 Gotta Love It 7 30

11 Keith Piggin Estate Agents 48

12 Fisher & Paykel 52

13 Maytag 52

14 Noakes Youth 54

15 CST Composites 57

16 Southern Cross Constructions 59

17 SX Projects 62

18 Active Air-2UE 71

19 Pure Blonde 79

20 Panasonic 80

21 Belle Property 83

22 appliancesonline.com.au 84

23 Kinder Caring Home Nursing 86

24 Team Sitja 95