SailGP’s Tash Bryant, 18-foot skiff sailor Bec Hancock making waves in sailing with historic wins
It was started by a rugby league pioneer and used by footballers as off-season training. Now two women have turned 18-footer skiff history on its head.
She’s used to racing at high-speed in the wet and wild world of SailGP but even when she slowed down enough to race an 18-footer skiff Tash Bryant managed to create some special sailing history in an Australian class once used by rugby league players as off-season training.
The famous 18-footer skiffs are steeped in history with a pioneer of rugby league navigating the establishment of the Australian 18-footer league back in 1935, the JJ Giltinan world championships in 1938 - still raced - and other skiff races from the famous clubhouse at Double Bay.
And while the great sporting entrepreneur Giltinan led the first Kangaroos tour back in 1908 and watched Australia win the Ashes 45 years later just before his death, he never saw what Bryant and fellow sailor Bec Hancock just achieved.
In Sydney ahead of the finale of the SailGP season in Abu Dhabi later this month, Bryant was called up by partner and Yandoo skipper Tim Needham to fill the gap left in the Yandoo crew by regular crewmen Fang Warren, who was on paternity leave.
Bryant then steered Yandoo - the reigning JJ Giltinan world champion — to victory in the Australian 18-footer club championship.
On the same day, rival skipper Bec Hancock skippered Sotheby’s Ballard Property and crewmates Cam Walker and Ed Swain, to victory in the Eric Bowen Memorial Trophy which is sailed in conjunction with the club titles.
It was the first time two female skippers have won since the club began racing 18ft skiffs on Sydney Harbour 90 years ago in late 1935.
“It was a lot of fun,’’ Bryant said of racing the skiffs which are almost a third the size of the Flying Roos 50-foot foiling catamaran she races under skipper Tom Slingsby in the professional SailGP series which is raced on Sydney harbour again in the New Year.
While Bryant, Slingsby and their SailGP crewmates have cracked the 100km/h barrier on their high tech foiling machines, the top speed for an 18-footer is around 30 knots (55km/h).
But it still makes for a wet and wild ride for sailors and spectatacular watching for fans who still cram boats to wqatch the action close up.
Championship racing continues this weekend on Sydney Harbour in the skiffs but this time Bryant will be watching with the return of crewmen Warren to the champion Yandoo team.
Bryant, from Sydney’s northern beaches, originally dreamt of competing in the 49erFX class in the Olympic arena but it now a full-time sailor with SailGP.
She is the tactcian aboard the Australian boat which also boasts her childhood neighbour growing up, Olympic medallist Jason Waterhouse.
The Australian Flying Roos team, which is backed by Hollywood heavyweights Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, are bidding for a multimillion-dollar payday by taking out the finale of the 2024/2025 series in Abu Dhabi later this month.
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Originally published as SailGP’s Tash Bryant, 18-foot skiff sailor Bec Hancock making waves in sailing with historic wins
