The first 12ft Skiff Australian Championship was sailed on the Brisbane River in the 1925-26 sailing season. It was won by the Queensland skiff Defiance skippered by Alf Whereat. The original contest was between six nominated skiffs from Queensland and six from NSW. With the exception of three years during World War Two, the Championship was held every year, with the venue alternating between Brisbane and Sydney, until the 1960-61 season when the event lapsed following the demise of the Brisbane 12ft Sailing Club.

In 1969-70, in an endeavour to revive interest in the 12ft skiff class in Queensland, a 12ft Skiff "Open" Australian Championship was held in Brisbane under the auspices of the Brisbane 18ft Sailing Club. This "Open" Championship has been held each year since.

The venue alternates between NSW and Queensland. Lane Cove club member Graham Colless, who is an entrant in this year’s Championship, spans both eras, having won the Championship in Escapade in 1957-58 and then, backing that up with a win in Natures Gate Herbal Cosmetics in 1984-85. The 12ft Skiff "Open" Australian Championship carries the Norman Booth Perpetual Trophy donated from inception of the series by N.G. Booth Pty Ltd. Norman Booth, a former member of Lane Cove 12ft Sailing Skiff Club skippered the skiff Maple Leaf during the period when the original Championship series was held.

The handicap sailing in conjunction with the "Open" championship carries the Colin Clark Memorial Trophy which dates back to the handicap sailed in conjunction with the early Championship regattas. Colin Clark was actively associated with 12ft skiff racing in Queensland for many years.

The Club takes as its origin a program for the Lane Cove Sailing Club for the 1896-97 season. In that year the club conducted races for yachts, boats over 15 feet and boats under 15 feet. A copy of the first program now hangs in the Clubhouse. In 1915 a restricted sail area 12ft Skiff was introduced at Cremorne Sailing Club and three years later the Lane Cove Club took 12ft Skiffs on as its main racing class. Upon the demise of the Cremorne Club at the end of the Great War, Lane Cove became the home of 12 ft skiff racing in Australia. Today 12 ft Skiffs remain the Club’s senior class.

The Club’s first clubhouse was a single story timber building that was completed in 1936 and extended in 1940 and again in the early 1960s. The current clubhouse was opened in 1974.

In the late 1940s the Club recognised the need to provide training opportunities for younger sailors and introduced racing for the VJ class in 1946.

Progressively other classes were introduced to complement the Club’s strong commitment to 12ft Skiff racing: