28/04/2026
They took the long road home and clocked up some overtime but St George boat Wichard Pacific powered home to win the prestigious ANZAC Day 16ft Ack Ack Trophy race, unveiling a skipper of the future in the process.
Seventeen-year-old Manly sailor Tayla Lees – after only a handful of starts piloting a 16 – showed great calm and exposure to beat home a host of more experienced sailors.
Combining with owner/sheethand Luka Damic and bowman Cameron McDonald, the 13ft and Flying 11 graduate cruised to victory in a near-perfect 10-12 knot nor' easter.
The ANZAC Day race was started by a group of returned servicemen from the 53rd Ack Ack regiment more than 50 years ago.
It was their way of commemorating the day while celebrating their love of sailing.
Winning on ANZAC Day puts you in rarefied air at St George, with many Manly boats heading over the bridge to join their Saints colleagues on such a special occasion.
"It was an amazing opportunity as a 13ft skiff sailor to be asked to sail with some very experienced 16ft skiff sailors," Tayla said after Wichard's win.
"They were really friendly and encouraging and helping me learn lots during the race, especially about sailing with the tide in the river which is a massive game changer when competition is tight.
"It really was an honour on take the win on such a historical day that means so much to so many."
Damic and McDonald, who know the tricky St George "track" like the back of their hands after many years sailing there, were blown away by how well their teenager skipper handled the conditions.
It's even more impressive when you consider the trio had never previously sailed together.
"Tayla's obviously very young and still learning lots but she was very impressive out there," Damic said.
"A 16 can be a difficult boat to sail but she absorbed everything we said and her boat handing was good.
"We never looked like swimming or being uncomfortable or being put in a difficult position.
"She's just going to get even better the more she sails a 16."
Such was Wichard's dominance, the crew had time to recover from a lap miscalculation and still win with around two minutes to spare.
Tayla explained: "We weren’t too sure how many laps there were but luckily we had enough of a gap between us and second place to sail the extra distance just to be safe."
In the 13s, St George team #26 (Phoebe Branch/Marcus Wong) looked to have a win in the bag but a botched tack heading toward the final windward mark led to a capsize, allowing scratch St George team Infinity Rigging (Tom Hughes/Noah Chenhall) to charge through and claim the win.
Remarkably, Phoebe and Marcus only joined forces at the start of the season and have made great progress, with a 13s camp over the Easter period fast-tracking their education.
To push Infinity Rigging all the way and finish ahead of more seasoned teams from Manly points to a bright future in the class.
The other class winners on ANZAC Day were:
MG14: Venturi (Ruby Smith/John Caley)
Skate: Any Which Way (Tim Sellars/Damien Vlotman)
Windsurfer: Sham Watkins
Photo gallery: https://manly16s.pixieset.com/2026anzacday/16ftskiff/
Words | Adam Lucius
Photos | Mark Bramley
Manly16's
Aussie Skiffs \\ 13 & 16 Footers
St George Sailing Club
Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club
