A fleet of 11 International 14's contested the 2006 NSW State Titles, held at Sydney Flying Squadron over the Easter long weekend. The title was fought closely throughout the fleet over 3 days and 9 races in a variety of conditions, ranging from light to fresh and gusty. It was great to see 4 Victorian and 2 ACT boats make the trip up for what was a fantastic regatta.

Representing Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne, Stuart Vickery sailed "Argo" to a narrow win, decided via countback, with Sydney 18 Footer sailor Greg Dixon as crew. In second place, but on equal points, was brother and fellow Sandringham member Robert Vickery with crew Wayne Francombe sailing "Carbon Concepts". The highest placing NSW boat, "The Muppet Show" sailed by Sydney Flying Squadron ("SFS") members Ed Blackman and Paul Carpenter came in third, four points behind.

In the Classics division, which was defined as International 14's of an older design without racks, Oliver Merz and Ben Hillman from Canberra Yacht Club won convincingly in "Budgie Smuggler" after mixing it with the more modern racked boats, to take a solid fourth place overall. Dave McCrudden and Kate Cooper of SFS scrapped "Dukes" into second, wining a countback with the third placed "Wedge 5" sailed by Peter & Will Moor. "Dukes" and "Wedge 5" placed Sixth and Seventh overall.

	2006 NSW Champion "Argo" Copyright Mel Yeomans

On day one, Easter Friday, 3 races were held in a light Nor-East breeze, with varying results throughout the day. The only skinny Bieker 5 design, "Argo", displayed superior boathandling and downwind speed to take out two of the races. "The Muppet Show" got up for the other win after finding a favourable shift on the last work. On "Wedge 5", Peter Moor and son Will dominated the classics and kept the racked boats honest, with their best effort a third overall in race two. The big move of the day came from Dave & Kate on "Dukes" who had a killer port end start, crossing in front of the entire fleet apart from "Carbon Concepts". After racing, SFS put on a welcome BBQ and opened the bar exclusively for competitors, despite being closed to the public for Easter Friday.

Saturday brought a fresh, shifty, gusty Sou-Westerly that tested the entire fleet. Spectators and Race Officials were treated to plenty of high speed crashes and very frequent lead and position changes. "Carbon Concepts" combined great boathandling with their heavier crew weight that had plagued them on day one to score two wins and a second. Oliver & Ben on "Budgie Smuggler" outclassed the classics and were leading the whole fleet for most of race 5 before an unfortunate capsize prior to the finish. "The Muppet Show" took out the last race, by being the first to recover after a solid gust flattened the fleet.

The beach under Taronga Zoo was renamed "Stewy's Beach" after "Argo" returned to it a number of times for repairs in between races. After the awesome rides of the day, everyone returned to the club with big smiles. Most of the fleet later reconvened for Pizza and Wine to recuperate from the days exertions, the recuperation session continuing well into Sunday for some competitors.

"Budgie Smuggler ", classics winner Copyright Mel Yeomans
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The final day of racing was held in a moderate but patchy Sou-Easter that slowly died out over the afternoon. "Argo" started well to secure two wins, but a broken tack line at the end of the final race let "Carbon Concepts" through for the other win. Racing in the rest of the fleet was intense with frequent place changes; in fact race eight saw most of the classics at the front of the fleet around the top mark. B14 champion Marty Johnson sailing his first regatta in I14's, with crew James Triggs, had a great day and placed "Menace Patrol" third in races seven and eight. "Budgie Smuggler" again showed great consistency winning all races out of the classics with a best overall placing of fourth in race 9. After racing, the SFS put on a presentation BBQ to cap off an awesome regatta where all competitors had a great time.

The other two boats representing Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne were "Lynx" sailed by Ben Strong and Roberto Scrivenor and "Ghost", purchased a few hours prior to the first race by Adam Syme. Wollongong I14 sailor Kevin Linnett crewed on Ghost. Adam did particularly well considering this was the first time he had sailed his skiff and he improved steadily throughout the regatta. Both "Lynx" and "Ghost" are part of a keen young fleet of classics that look like they will be growing substantially over winter. This will inject some more young blood into the strong Victorian fleet.

Representing Canberra Yacht Club, Justin Woods and Luke sailing "Loose Unit" have also shown massive improvement after their first year in I14's, which included travelling to the Nationals and the Victorian State Championship. Anthony Little of SFS has also been improving rapidly on "Test Eagle" after taking over helming duties from his now crew Ben Thomas.

Special thanks are extended to all the volunteers who helped at this regatta, especially SFS Commodore Glen Stanaway who co-ordinated, Principle Race Officer Phil Yeomans and Starter Mel Yeomans who set some great courses in trying conditions. We had many other helpers each day and it is fantastic to see so many people willing to help make regatta success stories.

The next major events on the horizon are the World Championships to be held in Los Angeles in September followed by the Geelong World Skiff Regatta in January. Of course we are also looking forward to the 2007 NSW State championship and it would be fantastic to see a few more boats join the fleet in NSW before then, as well as entrants travelling from Black Rock & Brisbane.