Etchells showdown underway at Brighton

by David Staley on 11 Mar 2017 There is the promise of an epic battle at the 2017 Victorian Etchells Championships this weekend and the final day action will be live streamed for all to see.

Royal Brighton Yacht Club is hosting the three-day regatta over the Labour Day weekend that has attracted 28 entries and some of Australia’s most outstanding sailing talent.

The main event is expected to be the struggle for supremacy between Graeme Taylor’s Magpie and John Bertrand’s Triad II. While Taylor has the 2016 and 2017 Australian Etchells Championships trophies to give him confidence leading into the weekend, Bertrand has had the better of the Magpie crew in the last three Victorian titles. The names Bertrand and Triad also appear on the silverware for eight Victorian Championships, eight Australian Championships and two World Championships.

After a windless morning, today’s first race got underway in a gentle southerly, building from seven to twelve knots with some stronger puffs and moving right. The light conditions tested the crews’ decision-making skills and racing was very close.

Getting the edge on the favourites, Yandoo XX sailed by Jeanne-Claude Strong, Marcus Burke, Seve Jarvin and Tiana Wittey, was the first boat home just two seconds ahead of John Bertrand’s Triad II and Damien King’s Barry. Graeme Taylor and the crew of Magpie were fourth. The first ten boats finished within one minute.

Jeanne-Claude Strong, the 2016-17 Queensland Etchells Champion from Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, was delighted with her start to the series.

“It’s always a thrill to get a win”, she said.

“It’s all credit to my wonderful crew for some great work today. While we were not so happy with our second race, we will be back on the water tomorrow to try again”, said Strong.

Chris Hampton will be disappointed with his first race, having to return after an OCS at the start and finishing well down the placings. Hampton, sailing with Mark Andrews and Sam Haines on Tango, was locked in by other competitors coming off the line and lost several minutes getting back to see the X flag lowered. The Tango crew are aiming to be among the top boats this weekend after winning the 2016 New South Wales Etchells Championship and some recent strong results.

Tango took on race two with some added motivation and finished with a massive 42 second lead over David Clark, Andrew Smith and Ian Johnson on Fifteen +. Local boat Pedro II (Mark Woodland, Malcolm Ware and Marcus Silk) were third, just edging out Bruce McBriar, Jeff Casley and Tony Bond on Fast Forward.

The breeze continued to freshen during the second race, increasing from 12 knots to 18 knots at times and continuing to veer.

Melbourne based International Race Officers Kevin and Ross Wilson are leading the experienced race management team from Brighton to ensure the 2017 Victorian Etchells Championships continue to run smoothly.

“It was a day of chasing the breeze”, said Race Officer Kevin.

“Overall it moved right, but not consistently. This meant plenty of course changes for the team so we could give the sailors some good beats and true down-winds”, he said.

At the end of the day, David Clark’s Fifteen + sits at the top of the results table, three points ahead of John Bertrand’s Triad II who have a further three on James Polson’s Hong Kong entry Conspiracy. There are four more races to be sailed over the next two days and plenty of other crews lining up to claim their place.

The final day of racing will be live streamed via a YouTube link that can be accessed on the event website. On water and drone video will be combined with tracking to enable Etchells fans anywhere to watch the Championships draw to a conclusion.

For all the race documents and more information about the Championship, visit the event webpage.