Kiwi teams battle strong fleet at 2026 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship

Several New Zealand crews featured in the fleet at the 2026 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Championship on Sydney Harbour, with three Kiwi teams finishing across the 27-boat leaderboard after the nine-race regatta.

The best-placed New Zealand entry was Shaw and Partners NZL, skippered by Eli Liefting with Sam Street and Josh Schon, who finished 8th overall. The trio also produced one of the highlights for the Kiwi contingent, finishing third in Race 7.

Another New Zealand-linked crew, ASCC (Campbell Stanton, Ollie Gilmour and Pat Morgan), placed 12th overall, while Akarana Eatery (Monty Alderson, Levi Jenkins and Marcel Van Der Voort) finished 26th in the highly competitive international fleet.

The ASCC crew of Campbell Stanton, Ollie Gilmour and Pat Morgan was one of three Kiwi entries at the regatta, alongside Shaw and Partners NZL (top), skippered by Eli Liefting with Sam Street and Josh Schon. Photos / Sail Media.

The regatta itself was dominated by Yandoo 18ft Skiff, with John Winning Jr, Fang Warren and Lewis Brake securing the world title for the third consecutive year. Despite finishing outside the leading placings in the final race, the team comfortably topped the overall standings on 22 points.

Race 9 was won by Germany’s Black Knight, skippered by Heinrich von Bayern with Tom Martin and Andy Martin, who handled the 15–18 knot north-easterly conditions superbly to claim their first race win in a Giltinan championship regatta since joining the event in 2018. Black Knight crossed the finish line 1m13s ahead of Queensland’s GC Sails, with Shaw and Partners NZL a further 31 seconds back in third.

Full results here.