Cowes Etchells Spring Series - Mixed bag for first race weekend

by Rob E Goddard on 11 Apr 2014 With a varied forecast for the first race weekend of the year, organizers Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club were delighted to see 10 boats make the start line off Hill Head on Saturday 5th April, it was the fleets biggest start to the season since 2007.

CCYC PRO Andrew Millband and his team took the fleet to the Hill Head buoy in order to race in the tidal shelter of the Knowle and Bramble banks with winds on Saturday ranging from six to 12 knots that filled the race track in puffs and bands in a generally southerly breeze which moved up to 20deg during the racing, but having a 13.00 hours start with 3-4 races planned, and each race with two laps meant that a 1.6Km (yes Km not Kt) beat was prepared, and if extra pressure was there, it was the right hand side of the course that generally paid.

Exabyte GBR 1352 skippered by Shaun Frohlich, sailing with Duncan Truswell and David Bedford lead after the weekend’s four races as they were prepared to commit to a side of the course and wait for the breeze to join them, and their bottom gate selection always paid dividends. So while the racing was close Frohlich scored a 1, 2, 2 and a five to finish on 10 points for the day, a convincing five points ahead of David Franks’ Elvis GBR 1354.

Race 1, the line was slightly biased to the committee boat end where eight of the 10 boat fleet lined up to start, while the other two boat Rob Goddard’s Stampede and David Franks’ Elvis were a few boat lengths further along the line. And at the start sailing at full speed Goddard was close to the line, while on the committee boat end the other eight boats did not fit into one space, so mayhem ensued. The fleet all tacked onto port as soon as possible to minimise the tidal effect, but Goddard’s clear wind kept him in first place around the two lap course, in the race with the most consistent breeze of the day.

Race 2 was started on a fair line, and the lead changed throughout the first beat as the pressure started to oscillate, and after rounding the top mark most of the fleet quickly gybed onto port, but Nick Stagg’s China White stayed on starboard and picked up more breeze on the south-easterly side of the course, while the wind on the other side slowly dropped, and as boats gybed back for the pressure they could only get to Stagg’s long-gone wake, and a delighted Nick Stagg then led for the rest of the race to take his first ever fleet win in the Etchells Fleet.

Race 3 saw Shaun Frohlich leading at the top Mark, and after rounding he quickly gybed, but soon fell into lower pressure and to the boats on starboard Gybe it looked as though Exabyte would fall well back into the pack, but Exabyte waited for the breeze to join them and then took the biased committee gate mark to lead convincingly for the final lap and took the win.

Race 4 again saw the 10 boat fleet arrive with just seconds apart at the top mark, the fleet was so compact that Goddard’s Stampede pinched in at the top mark in third place but was last by the spreader mark as boat after boat rolled over the top, while in fifth place before the spreader leg was James McHugh sailing with Andy Beadsworth and Simon Fry aboard Palover that they had loaned for the weekend, and in the six knots breeze their experience showed as they sailed over and around the four boats ahead of them to gain first place after only 10 boat lengths of downwind sailing, and needless to say they were not going to let anyone pass them as they went onto to win the final race of the day.

Sunday dawned to rain and fog in the central Solent, but the fog soon gave way to wind and just before the intended Sunday start time of 10.30 the breeze was 25kts gusting 30, so with a forecast of more breeze to come a few skippers decided that for the first racing weekend of the season with four new teams on the water it was best to abandon racing for the day, needless to say on the beat back to Cowes the wind abated to 20kts gusting 25, but an hour after all the boats were back in port winds were back up to 30kt gusts again. Later in the season, and with warmer water, racing would have continued, but for the first weekend most were pleased to pack the boats away early and complete jobs that had just appeared over the winter.

The second weekend of the series is on the 26th and 27th of April when more boats are expected.