A long first day for Etchells Worlds competitors

by Leslie Richter on 27 Sep 2017

Mayhem on the starting line for the first start of the Etchells Worlds. Leslie Richter

The first day of racing for the 51 International Etchells teams got off to a slow start with a 2.5 hour postponement on glassy water. When race one finally began at about 2:30pm, the wind had built to a consistent 8 – 10 kts. By the second race, the breeze freshened slightly to 14 - 15 kts. “The race committee, led by PRO Jeff Zarwell, did a great job completing two races in a short time window, getting everyone back to the dock before sunset,” said race co-chair Steve Fentress, and seconded by many racers.

“It was mayhem on the starting line because everyone is so good,” said Dirk Kneulman (BER), one of the three Etchells boat builders, and a previous world champion. “We had a bad first start but clawed our way back to finish in eighth. We had a great start in the second race, found a clean lane and were lucky to be the first boat to the windward mark.” Kneulman’s and his team of Grant Simmer and Mark Strube hung on to win the race and are standing in first place after day one. They lead Robert Elliott (GBR) and his team of Stuart Childerley and Tom Forrester-Coles by two points.

“This is the most competitive Etchells Worlds we’ve been to,” said Steve Benjamin (USA). “It’s just getting harder and harder.” Benjamin placed a disappointing 33rd in the first race and third in the second race to finish the day in 16th place.

The top Corinthian team, sitting in sixth place overall after day one is Senet Bischoff with his team of Clay Bischoff and Ben Kinney.

Racing continues tomorrow through Saturday with a total of nine races scheduled. If seven or more races are sailed there will be one throw out.

Day One Provisional Results (top 10)

1. Dirk Kneulman, BER 1454, RCYC, 8, 1; 9
2. Robert Elliott, GBR 1439, RYS, 9, 2; 11
3. Marty Kaye, HKG 1428, na, 4, 11; 15
4. James Badenach, HKG 1285, RHKYC, 1, 15; 16
5. Mark Thornburrow, HKG 1406, 10, 6; 16
6. Senet Bischoff, USA 1349, NYYC, 6, 13; 19
7. Graeme Taylor, AUS 947, Morningtown YC, 15, 5; 20
8. Marvin Beckman, USA 1232, Houston YC, 3, 18; 21
9. Ante Razmilovic, GBR, 7, 19; 26
10. Iain Murray, AUS, RSYS, 17, 9; 26

For complete regatta information and results, please see the event website.

Full Results:

Position	Sail Number	Sailor(s)	Division	Boat Name/Club	R1	R2	Total	Net
1	#14 BER 1454	Dirk Kneulman Grant Simmer Mark Strube	Grand Masters Seniors Masters	Tiburon RCYC	8	1	9	9
2	#39 GBR 1439	Robert Elliott Stuart Childerley Tom Forrester-Coles	Seniors Masters	Bon Vivant RYS	9	2	11	11
3	#28 HKG 1428	Marty Kaye Charlie Cumberley Marco Pocci	Masters	Les Freak Sont Chic na	4	11	15	15
4	#85 HKG 1285	James Badenach Christian Thompson Elliot Hansen Martin Wrigley		The General RHKYC	1	15	16	16
5	#7 HKG 1406	Mark Thornburrow Malcolm Page Mike Huang Wiley Rogers	Masters	Racer C RHKYC	10	6	16	16
6	#19 USA 1349	Senet Bischoff Ben Kinney Clay Bischoff	Corinthian	KGB NYYC	6	13	19	19
7	#3 AUS 947	Graeme Taylor James Mayo Steve Jarvin		Magpie Mornington YC	15	5	20	20
8	#32 USA 1232	Marvin Beckmann Jeff Elber Matthew Stevens	Seniors Masters	Houston YC	3	18	21	21
9	#38 GBR 1438	Ante Razmilovic Andrew Mills Brian Hammersley	Corinthian	Swedish Blue YCCS	7	19	26	26
10	#5 AUS 1119	Iain Murray Euan McNicol Richard Allanson	Masters	Northern Havoc RSYS	17	9	26	26
11	#26 USA 926	Peter Duncan Jud Smith Thomas Blackwell	Grand Masters Masters	Oatmeal American YC	23	4	27	27
12	#12 SUI 1425	Seamus McHugh David Vera San Luis Leonor Ramia Cabellero Luis Doreste Blanco		Tquila na	2	26	28	28
13	#44 GBR 1441	Peter Rogers Ben Cooper Neil Harrison	Seniors Masters	Highlife na	11	23	34	34
14	#37 USA 1137	Shannon Bush Brad Boston Phil Trinter	Female Masters	La Tormenta CCYC/NYYC/TCYC	22	12	34	34
15	#23 AUS 925	Martin Hill Andrew Palfrey David Chapman Sasha Ryan	Seniors Masters	RSYS	12	22	34	34
16	#27 USA 1427	Steve Benjamin Dave Hughes Ian Liberty Michael Menninger	Seniors Masters	Stella Blue Seawanhaka Corinthian YC	33	3	36	36
17	#59 USA 1208	Kevin Grainger Mark Mendelblatt Scott Norris		Gumption 3 American YC	16	21	37	37
18	#4 USA 1404	JIm Cunningham Chloe Holder Jeff Madrigali Mark Ivey	Masters	Lifted SFYC	31	7	38	38
19	#21 NZL 1348	Andrew Wills Anatole Masfen Simon Cooke		The Horn RAYC	14	24	38	38
20	#53 USA 1412	Steve Girling Adrian Owles Taylor Walker	Corinthian	Lion Heart NYYC	29	10	39	39
21	#55 USA 1372	Michael Goldfarb Morten Hendriksen Skip Dieball	Grand Masters Seniors Masters	Warcanoe CYC Seattle	13	30	43	43
22	#31 GBR 1431	David Franks Graham Sunderland Kate Devereux Mark Lees	Seniors Masters	Strait Dealer RYS	37	8	45	45
23	#29 USA 1429	Don Jesberg Andrea Cabito Bill Hardesty Robbie Dean	Seniors Masters	SFYC	19	27	46	46
24	#33 USA 1433	Argyle Campbell George Peet Jeremy Wilmot Victor Diaz de Leon	Seniors Masters	Rock N' Roll NHYC	34	14	48	48
25	#1 USA 1198	Scott Kaufman Austen Anderson Jesse Kirkland Lucas Calabrase	Seniors Masters	America Jane 11 SIYC	20	28	48	48
26	#71 USA 1177	Eric Doyle Ezra Culver Payson Infelise		Happy Dance na	18	31	49	49
27	#11 USA 1411	Tom Carruthers Ben Lamb Chris Busch	Grand Masters Seniors Masters	Elizabeth SDYC/Little Traverse YC	21	33	54	54
28	#6 AUS 1436	Doug Flynn Henry Kernot Steve McConaghy	Seniors Masters	Wobbegong2 RSYS	38	17	55	55
29	#34 GBR 1434	Lawrie Smith Goncalo Ribiero Ruben Sole Vitor Hugo Rocha	Seniors Masters	Alfie Cowes	30	25	55	55
30	#22 USA 946	Craig Healy Hartwell Jordan Tom Ducharme	Grand Masters Seniors Masters	I Love My Wife StFYC/SFYC	24	32	56	56
31	#15 AUS 874	Chris Hampton Mark Andrews Sam Haines	Seniors Masters	Tango RBYC	5	DSQ-52	57	57
32	#25 USA 1229	Ethan Doyle Jack Hunger Laura Levy Mat Johnson	Corinthian	Capricorn SFYC	26	34	60	60
33	#9 FRA 1281	Frederic Laffitte Bruce O'Donnell Janet Laffitte Mathieu Laffitte	Seniors Masters Corinthian	Hustle and Flow YC Antibes	25	36	61	61
34	#43 GBR 1437	Shaun Frohlich David Bedford Duncan Truswell	Grand Masters Masters	Exabyte 7 RORC/RSNYC/HRSC	32	29	61	61
35	#13 HKG 1339	Maarten Jamin Charlie Manzoni Scarlett Manzoni Willem Van Walt Meijer	Masters Corinthian	Freelance RHKYC	42	20	62	62
36	#10 AUS 875	Bruce Ferguson Cameron Miles David Sampson	Masters	Whisper RPAYC	27	37	64	64
37	#16 HKG 1345	James Polson Akira Sakai Rory Godman		Conspiracy RHKYC	DNF-52	16	68	68
38	#66 USA 666	Chris Kostanecki Kevin Burrell William Barton	Grand Masters Masters Corinthian	Natural Revival SFYC	28	44	72	72
39	#18 AUS 1318	Steve Billingham Doug McGain Will Lewis	Masters Corinthian	Adolescence RSYS	36	39	75	75
40	#2 AUS 1435	Jeanne-Claude Strong Marcus Burke Seve Jarvin Tiana Wittey	Female Seniors Masters	RSYS	43	35	78	78
41	#24 USA 1012	Ted Hardenbergh Jamie Hardenbergh Mark Hardenbergh	Grand Masters Masters Corinthian	Natasha Massabesic YC	40	38	78	78
42	#20 GBR 1329	Rob Goddard Chuck Hope Kjeld Hestehave	Grand Masters Seniors Masters Corinthian	Stampede CCYC	35	45	80	80
43	#47 AUS 921	Noel Paterson Andrew Wiklund David Healey	Grand Masters Seniors Masters Corinthian	Waterloo Too RQYS	44	41	85	85
44	#8 NGA 1450	Jan Muysken Jonas Pedersen Laurence Mead	Grand Masters Seniors Masters	African Queen RSYS/LYC	46	40	86	86
45	#45 USA 922	Dale Hoffman Jeff Holder William Masterangelio	Grand Masters Seniors Masters Corinthian	IMP na	39	48	87	87
46	#41 AUS 1292	Matthew Ramaley Adam Turk Will Thompson	Corinthian	CYCA/RQYS	47	43	90	90
47	#40 USA 977	Travis Lund Darren Cummings Lester Igo	Corinthian	Foxy Lady na	50	42	92	92
48	#17 HKG 1243	Nick Burns Elise Kelly Peter Fletcher Sam Sakai	Seniors Masters	gunga din RHKYC	41	SCP-52	93	93
49	#50 USA 776	Scott Gordon Ellen Briggs John Adriany	Masters Corinthian	Bungle StFYC	45	49	94	94
50	#35 USA 909	Summer Greene Ian Trotter Marnie Buddo	Female Corinthian	Mostly Harmless SDYC	49	46	95	95
51	#49 BER 1249	Tim Patton Campbell Patton Stuart Priestly	Seniors Masters	Thrash na	48	47	95	95