Racing and training gets hotter in the lead up to 2016 Etchells Worlds

by Rob Goddard on 19 May 2016 Cowes Etchells fleet had its second training regatta on the 14/15th May, the event drew many entries of varying skill levels, from beginners to past world champions racing in a 20 boat fleet, a third the number of the expected entries for the main event in September.

The weekends racing attracted crews from around the globe and amongst the GBR sail numbers there were also HKG, USA, SUI and NZL mains on display, as crews look to learn more about the Solent and its conditions in what was billed as a training event but was also a hard fought regatta. And it was local Sailor Andrew Cooper sailing ICE GBR1407 with North Sails one design expert Charlie Cumbley and renowned professional sailor Mark Andrews, who dominated the weekend, scoring three firsts and a second in the five race series, with Lawrie Smith sailing Alfie and Robert Elliott on Strait Dealer winning a race each. Category one winning team was Matt Reid Bradley McLachlan, Martin Evans, and Paul Childs sailing Sexabyte, they also finished a credible sixth overall.

Saturday was a day of light shifty easterly breezes that challenged crews and the CCYC race committee alike, in fact in race one, almost every sailor on the water could have justifiably claimed to have led at one point or another, while on Sunday a steady eight knots Westerly slowly built to 12-14 knots and as such tide became more of a factor, and with Graham Sunderland being the coach for the weekend, his Saturday post-race talk about bramble bank tidal strategies could not have been better timed for many of the fleet.

PRO Andrew Millband who has worked closely with the class for the last five years or so commented on how the level of the Etchells class racing just keeps improving far beyond other fleets in the Solent, while Class captain David Franks said this 'we recognise the journey of learning plays a huge part in the enjoyment of sailing and with the massive success of our training regatta program it is now a firm date in our 2017 program. Part of the success is down to world class coaches such as Jud Smith earlier this year and the planned training with Current World Champion Skip Dieball scheduled for August just before the Worlds.’