18 Footer Tradition - Well-deserved result for crew & sponsor
by Frank Quealey 22 Apr 05:57 UTC
The 2018 NSW champions in action © Frank Quealey
Tradition has played an important part in 18ft skiff racing's history, so it's fortunate for the Australian 18 Footers League to have had many competitors, over the past 91 years, who have come down to the park each week to race their boats, with the support of generous sponsors, in front of a loyal spectator group on the club spectator ferry.
It is always satisfying when these loyal competitors and long-term sponsors achieve good results or produce 'personal best' efforts in the major championships - especially when it's the 18 footers' greatest event of the year, the 2026 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship.
This year it was Lachlan Steel, Jerome Watts and George Morton, the crew of the long-term The Kitchen Maker sponsor's skiff, who finished 10th overall in the highly-competitive 27-boat fleet from six nations.
Along the way the team recorded five race results in the top-10, including a narrow 4secs second place (behind Smeg) in Race 3 of the nine-race regatta. Other race placings were 3rd, 6th, 7th and 10th.
Lachlan Steel and Jerome Watts both formerly sailed 16 footers at the St. George Sailing Club before moving together to the 18s, on an ageing skiff, during the 2020-21 season. The following season was their first for The Kitchen Maker in 2021-22.
In the first Giltinan championship as The Kitchen Maker, Lachlan and Jerome finished in 22nd place and in the following two regattas were placed 21st in both. In the 2025 championship, they placed 15th overall with a best race result of 4th.
Lachlan sailed most of the 2025-26 season with a different crew but when injury forced others out he was forced to make a hasty decision just weeks before the 2026 JJs.
According to Lachlan, "I called Jerome four weeks before the JJs to ask if he would be interested in stepping back onto The Kitchen Maker after quite a successful season sailing on the MTM Signage 16ft skiff. Once he committed to doing it, we had a discussion about who to get on board as our third, and George Morton instantly came to both of our minds. We spoke with George later on the same day and we had the team locked in for the JJs."
George was well known to Lachlan and Jerome, and had proved himself throughout the League's 2025-26 season in a number of very good teams after moving down from Brisbane.
Lachlan recalled, "Jerome and I first met George in Brisbane in 2022 while competing in the Queensland state titles on The Kitchen Maker, and he has always been a great bloke to be around. After moving from Brisbane at the start of the season he filled in on various League boats including The Kitchen Maker, early on in the season."
"George added a great energy to the boat and quickly settled into the team, forming a solid foundation for the JJs campaign. We sailed for the first time together less than four weeks before the JJ's, and from the first sail I felt like it was a great combination. We all shared the same mind set which is often a key factor in any successful skiff campaign."
So how did Lachlan rate the team's performance during the 2026 Giltinan Championship, "as a team we were quite pleased with our performance during the JJ's."
"I have to give a lot of credit to both George and Jerome who both put in a herculean effort before the JJs. We managed to fit in six training sessions before the regatta with countless hours also spent preparing and tuning the boat. We also got a lot of help from Euan McNicol, who has been a huge asset to the fleet at the League."
"We were particularly pleased with our result in heat 3 of the JJs, finishing 2nd a mere 4secs behind Smeg. I was really proud of how George and Jerome sailed that race; they pushed the boat hard the whole way around the track and didn't leave much on the table."
"We were also quite happy to finish 10th overall, especially considering we had a DNF in Race when we pitch-poled off Shark Island and broke the bow sprit after George landed on it. It was quite a tough start to the week but we managed to bounce back."
Seeing Lachlan achieve such a good result was pleasing as he has been a wonderful example of the type of competitor the League has long encouraged in its fleet. As Lachlan says, "I have been sailing 18s for five years and haven't missed a single weekend of since I started. The 18s are an addictive boat to sail and there isn't anything else quite like it."
"I am now very much looking forward to racing again next season and hope we can build upon our performance in the JJ's."
The Kitchen Maker's Darren McKavanagh has the same loyalty attitude to the League and the 18s.
Darren originally came into the 18s, as a competitor, in 2001 and went on to sail a variety of different 18s before deciding to sponsor his own boat in 2010-11. He once recalled, "A lot of my work had come through sailing contacts, so I thought it would be nice to give back and also touch base with a bigger market of sailors and good contacts."
Over the following fifteen seasons, Darren has supported many great skippers, including Cameron McDonald, Malcolm Page, John Sweeny, Andrew Chapman, Stephen Quigley, Scott Babbage and Jordan Girdis.
The Kitchen Maker, which specialises in 'creating custom kitchens, living spaces, studies, bedrooms & wardrobes, bathrooms & vanities, and outdoor kitchens & entertaining spaces', has grown along with its partnership at the League.
Lachlan Steel agrees about McKavanagh's support of the 18s and the Australian 18 Footers League, "Darren has been a long term supporter of the 18s class and youth classes, helping to inspire the next generation of 18ft skiff sailors. I am personally grateful for Darren's support over the last four seasons."
Video coverage of the 2026 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship is available at: www.youtube.com/@18footersTV/streams18ft