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12 Foot Skiffs

he 12ft skiff is a development class that is sailed in NSW, QLD and New Zealand

The main regattas are the State, Australian and Interdominion championships. NSW also holds interclub regattas during the season at Lane Cove, Saratoga, Abbotsford, SFS and Greenwich.

The major regatta is the Interdominion championships normally held about January it alternates between Australian and New Zealand. This years contest is being held in Sydney. It is a close and tightly fought contest with this years regatta having 7 different heat winners in 8 races from a fleet of 38 boats. The Interdominion is also well known for the post race activities most of which are documented in the nightly spinners award, won by the most stupid off water story. It is a highly sought after award.

There are minimal hull measurement rules basically restricting length, beam and weight giving freedom for people to design and build their own boats. Presently the Woof shape is predominant but new shapes have been built in QLD and NSW and rumours of a new shape from New Zealand. As the 12's are not a production boat it is the decision of the owner as to who they choose for the Hull, Spars and Sails.

It is common for people to buy the components for a boat and build it themselves. Hulls are Carbon Foam sandwich and have a minimum weight of 45kgs. A well built and maintained hull will be competitive for many years with Tim Bartlett winning the interdominions in a seven year old boat. A cherub will also comply to the 12ft skiff rules so can be turbo'd and race.

There is no restriction on the Size, Shape or Number of sails giving complete freedom for the Sailor to experiment with rigs. Alex Vallings has developed a wing mast but most boats run 2 or 3 carbon masts with a combination of sails giving 4 rig combinations. This allows the boats to race in 5 - 35 knots. The minimum setup would be 2 masts, 2 mains, 3 or 4 jibs and 3 or 4 kites. The advantage of the multiple sails is the gear lasts for several seasons as the wear and tear is spread across the rigs. Many sailors build their own sails which is an option not available in other classes.

Campaigning a 12 requires a range of skills, including, boat handling, tuning, boat maintenance organisation and training. It is recommended that a person new to the class spend a year crewing then look at a good second hand boat. This would be a base from which you would build on by replacing rigs or the hulls and over 2 years have a competitive combination. It would be a brave person who puts together a new boat from scratch first time.

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