When A young lady decided to go for a paddle in her kayak on Sydney Harbour last Sunday afternoon she got a little more excitement than she could have expected.

Her quiet little world got a rude shock when she found herself directly in the path of two 18ft Skiffs racing each other under spinnaker to the finish line off Double Bay.

Marcus Ashley-Jones (Asko Appliances) was in the windward position and able to quickly avoid the young lady, but The Kitchen Maker was under a lot more pressure to avoid a nasty collision.

Fortunately for the startled kayaker, The Kitchen Maker was in the very experienced hands of Olympic Gold Medalist Malcolm Page and his crew of Cameron McDonald and Darren McKavanagh.

Despite Cameron being forced up into the spinnaker of Asko Appliances in a sudden manouvre, The Kitchen Maker crew managed to avoid the collision leaving the young lady with a tale to tell her friends later.

Cameron McDonald had praise for her after the race: “She was caught in a very difficult situation but handled it really well”.

“She didn’t panic and we were able to go past her without too much worry”.

The Australian 18 Footers League has a spectator ferry following each race and it may be a safer and much more pleasant way for her to watch future races.

Frank Quealey
Australian 18 Footers League
http://www.18footers.com.au