The 18-foot skiff is the most historic type of open sailing boat to evolve, over a period of 120 years, on Sydney Harbour, as demonstrated by the fact that three of the original skiffs are in the collection of the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Today a fleet of 11 replica skiffs sail from the Sydney Flying Squadron (SFS) on Saturday afternoons from October through to Easter. They are the only boats of their type still sailing in the world.

The Australian Open Skiff Trust (AOST) was established in 2007 to promote, build and maintain replica 18-foot skiffs. It owns seven of them. All members of the community are welcome to sail on the boats.

The Trust is a non-profit organisation and all donations to it are spent on the historic 18-foot skiffs.

The SFS sailors are some of the finest in the world given that the skiffs are arguably the most difficult to sail of all open sailing boats. But despite such skill, racing the skiffs generates a range of maintenance expenses, including torn sails, repair of hull damage and replacement of broken masts. These costs amount to well over $20,000 each season.

Although preservation of the existing fleet is the main priority of the AOST, it will fund new replicas when the opportunity is right. A new skiff costs in the order of $150,000.

Your donation, whatever its size, will allow you to play a vital role in keeping alive the marvelous heritage of the 18-foot skiff on Sydney Harbour.