Damen 16ft Skiff Racing Team

07/04/2026

07/04/2026

The Damen 16ft Skiff Racing Team signed off the 2025/26 sailing season with a victory in the coveted Beresford Cup race at the Maryborough Sailing Club Easter Regatta.

We had a shakey start to the regatta with a 3rd place in race 1. We regrouped and had a bit of luck go our way in race 2. We managed to get the win in a great small rig south easterly. Unfortunately race 3 was abandoned due to some big unpredictable squalls coming through.

We were also lucky enough to have Damen employee Luuk and Tonka out on a support boat to watch us cross the line and win the Beresford Cup.

It was a tricky season for us but we got our hull back on the water and it was great to sign it off with a win. We have a few systems and minor jobs to do in preparation for next season but for now its time for a well earned break 👌

22/03/2026

We had a great race at Darling Point today. It was the Merv Hazel memorial race and the weather was awesome. 10 knots building to about 17 by the last lap.

Coates were too good for us today taking the scratch win and SMH Too pipped us at the post to leave us 3rd. We also had fun dumping on our Quadracon Sixteen Foot Skiff Racing Team mates for a few laps until they cartwheeled on a bearaway.

Was great to see Kay and Jim Hazel there to represent the family and present the trophy to SMH Too for the handicap win.

15/03/2026

Team Damen had a great day on the river at Brisbane Sailing Squadron on Saturday taking out the Qld Sprints AKA the Bill Thorburn Shield. After having a lean season so far, it was awesome to get a win on the board 🏆

As expected in sprint racing it was close, chaotic and loads of fun. The gusty 10-20 knot breeze kept us on our toes. In the 3 race series we had a 1-2-1 and had a bit of luck. We won race 1 by about half a boat length, we were over at the start in race 2 and looked on track for a 4th before the Steven Bradbury effect kicked in and we overtook a couple of swimmers to finish 2nd, then in the 3rd race after a really good battle with SMH, SMH Too and TED we got a tiny lead on the final run and brought it home.

Nice to have the hull refurb finally finished, with a huge thanks to the team at Rope Solutions Rigging Services for a full re-rope and some new rigging 🤘. We still have a bit of work to do on the rig set up but we are getting there and we are getting faster.

02/03/2026

This week we were lucky enough to borrow the mighty TEd while our boat is in the shop at Rope Solutions Rigging Services getting the final parts of our refit finished off.

We had great fun racing Coates and SMH. TED felt pretty slick despite having the little rig on instead of the right rig. We thought we had won the first race of the afternoon until we crossed the finish line only to see the PRO with his hands in his pocket and his head shaking.... OCS 🤦🏼

Race 2 started pretty well. Carlton nailed the start and we got around the top mark literally beside SMH but a not in the halyard took a while to get out and then the block on the floor broke. We tried to get around but ended up heading home a lap early.

Well done to SMH who chose the right rig and got two wins for their efforts. We still had a great afternoon of racing and managed to pick up a hitch-hiker from a flying 11 and gave a youngster a good kite ride into the harbour 🤘

23/02/2026

Another Brisbane Sailing Squadron Club Championship heat and another 2nd place for team Damen. Conditions were pretty light but luckily we had a light guest forward hand in Jordi Oakley.

We made a mess of the start but recovered pretty quickly to be fighting for the lead. While we were fighting with TED, SMH found a good shift and sailed off to a handy lead. That's pretty much how the race went until the breeze dropped near the end of the final run. We got just ahead of TED and came up the river with pressure to catch SMH. Just when we thought we were going to pick their pockets and sail straight through underneath SMH, one final gust that flicked north put us on our ear running shy along the southern bank style. It was fun but not fast and allowed SMH to cruise down to the finish line about 10 seconds ahead of us.

15/02/2026

Conditions weren't the best at DPSS today but we got the good ship Damen out for run. Mark and Carlton were unavailable because the rain makes their hair frizzle so Jordi and Lana Oakley stepped in to get Kye around the track.

The breeze was supposed to be a heavy south easter but mother nature had us fooled. The little rig went in and we were really moving at times but the breeze varied between 15 and 6 knots so we were definitely undercooked. Despite that we had a fun race battling it out with Coates and TED but they were too good for us today and we finished 3rd.

Thanks again Jordi and Lana for helping us out. Pretty impressive after a full on morning of 13's training!

10/02/2026

Team Damen ventured down to Belmont 16s Sailing Club this past weekend for the 2026 Australian Sprints.

The conditions were light and variable. Despite being fun and furious it was also disappointing as we were unable to master the conditions. We had a 7th, 10th and 5th in our 3 heats and didn't progress to the semi finals. Atleast it was great viewing the finals from the top deck of the club and we got to watch sailing legend Chris Nicholson skipper Law Connect to victory.

The weather didn't play ball for us on Sunday and the Belmont Bay Regatta got abandoned. Bit of a fizzer to end the weekend but it was good to catch up with our friends from the south. We'll be back in Bris this week working on getting the old ship back up to speed 🤘

03/02/2026

Finally!!!

After 2 years, 2 paint jobs and a lot of learnings we finally got the real Damen skiff back on the water. There are still a few little jobs to do and systems to tidy up but it looks good, feels good and goes good.

Thanks to Ian Smith , Geoff Hawgood, Charlie, and Rob Wasson for their help in getting us back on the water. We also have new sails from Tru Flo Sails and fresh ropes from Rope Solutions Rigging Services to get us moving.

The re-launch at Brisbane Sailing Squadron was a great success. We had a good hit out over 2 races with our arch rivals on SMH in preparation for our trip down to the Belmont 16s Sailing Club this weekend for the sprints.

A huge thanks must also go to Damen Shipyards for their sponsorship which has helped us refurb the boat and stay competitive! The new signage is going on the week and is going to look 👌👌

13/01/2026

We finished off the nationals on a high, taking 20th place in the final heat and securing 27th overall. While not as high as we wanted to be, we were really happy to put together our best performance of the week on the final day. Sailed really well and enjoyed the gusty southerly with the big rig in.

Thanks very much to (Geoff/dad) for letting us borrow the boat. It's a weapon. Thanks also to for jumping on board with us for the nationals. When Mark was unable to make the trip, we were lucky to have someone so capable to jump on and I now understand the impact that leverage has on boatspeed 😁. Thanks to Baz from TruFlo for the help and advice throughout the week 👏. We must also thank Brisbane Sailing Squadron and the QSSA for the travel assistance.

Belmont did a great job of hosting as we've come to expect and the huge fleet made it an unforgettable experience. Congratulations to Bosker for regaining the Aus championship and Shade to Order for being a cut above the rest of the fleet. They reinforced that there are levels in this skiff sailing game!

10/01/2026

Was nice to get the little rig in for Heats 6 and 7 with a north easterly breeze building to around 20 knots.

We had a good heat 6 but still need to work out our downwinds legs as we seem to leak a few boats each run. Still finished ina solid 23rd.

In heat 7 we made it hard for ourselves by being a few seconds too slow to react. As you can see from the photos we were buried and had to fight back from very deep in the fleet. Thankfully, by the finish line we had clawed back to 32nd.

1 race today and tomorrow. We'll do our best to finish on a high and see if we can climb a few spots on the ladder 🤘