Mustafa Ingham is putting his experience competing in high-performance sailboats to good use in Sydney, Australia.

The sailor is taking advantage of an opportunity to race in the Australian 18 Footers League with racing syndicate ILVE, led by skipper and helmsman Jono Whitty. The championship is being contested in the 18-foot Skiff, which combines extreme speeds with an element of danger.

“The 18-foot Skiffs are super fun and takes me back to my early days at Team BDA when we were learning to sail the Nacra 17s,” Ingham said.

As well as the non-foiling Nacra 17 catamaran, Ingham also competed in the AC45 foiling catamaran with Team BDA, the island’s entry in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in 2017, which the island hosted in the Great Sound.

The 18-foot Skiff is the world’s fastest conventional non-foiling monohull and is run by a crew of three on trapeze.

“The boat is really weight sensitive,” Ingham said. “It’s all about balance and body placement, but it’s a lot of movement on the trapeze.”

Ingham made his debut in the racing class at the NSW Championship contested in Sydney Harbour this month.

“The first day it was blowing 16-18 knots and I fell down a lot and woke up with some bruises in the morning,” Ingham said.

“We finished last for both races. We started the first one strongly until we capsized, but it was good fun and a great experience.”

Ingham was back in action during the launch of the nine-race Australian Championship series also being contested in Sydney Harbour last weekend.

“It was really light conditions but, again, a really great experience,” he said. “We didn’t do too well, but I reckon the more time we put on the water the better we’ll get over time.”

Ingham got the chance to showcase his ability at this level with the help of rival Red Bull Youth America’s Cup sailor Tim Westwood, who competed for Kaijin Team Japan.

“Tim asked if I wanted to do some racing and got me in contact with Pedro Vozone, who is the main trimmer on ILVE alongside skipper and helm Jono Whitty,” Ingham said.

“I was in Sydney learning to trapeze and got a call asking if I could make it to Double Bay to do some 18-foot Skiff racing.

“I really want to thank Pedro, Jono for the opportunity to further my sailing experience.”

The 22-year-old made his offshore racing debut in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race on board the yacht Infotrack, owned by Australian entrepreneur Christian Beck, last month.