2015 Etchells North American Championships - Day 2

by Steve Girling on 12 Sep 2015 The battle of Western Long Island Sound, Whales and all!

A fresh northerly greeted sailors for today's racing. Heading out onto the sound, it was clear that the overnight easterly had made quite a mess of things, with an east-west swell dominant under the wind-driven chop from the 12-16 knot gradient.

Race four - Course four, twelve - sixteen KTS, Flood Tide, Breeze 340-030

Race Four was again started right on time at 1055 by our trusty PRO, Donny Dowd, and his team from American Yacht Club. It's Long Island Sound, so it wouldn't be fun if it was obvious which way to go! Again, there was breeze on both sides of the track, with a geographic influence off the mainland shore (left shift) on the left, and bands of pressure building on the right edge and filling across the course.

Off the line, it was the boats in the left half of the line who were looking good, managing to consolidate their gains back to the middle. Kneulman and Benji were at the head of this group, with a host of others including Shannon Bush and Ken Womack.

Kneulman and Benj went around the mark together and then battled their way downwind in the puffy, shifty conditions. In the end, the race was put to bed by Dirk, who led around the left gate (looking upwind), and immediately hooked into some left pressure that delivered a big jump on the fleet. Everyone else who followed suit gained significantly on those teams who went to the right gate (looking upwind).

From there it was about shepherding Benj along to the finish...not an easy task, but successful nonetheless!

Back in the minor placings, behind Dirk and Benj, Ken Womack snuck ahead of Shannon Bush for third, with Scott Kaufmann, sailing through the fleet on the second beat and run to claim a creditable fifth.

Race five - Course four, six - twelve KTS, Slack tide, changing to ebb tide, Breeze 000-060

Again a difficult set up for Race five, with the forecast playing out as expected and a right progression starting to occur. Off the line, it was the boats in the pin half who were punched. However, Mr. Benjamin and team had seen something out right and were busy putting out their picnic blanket to collect the largest, longest right shift of the day. This hosed the left pack and brought the right half of the fleet into the lead as well. Etchells legend Allan Liebel sailed a beautiful first beat, crossing back to the right pack while he could, to consolidate a nice beat to round behind Benj, with the chasing pack in hot pursuit. A long port gybe run followed, with those not making the early gybe or soaking deep, losing ground to the boats on the left edge.

Up the second windward leg, things got interesting as the new breeze (from the hard right), battled with the old gradient. Some folks were tempted to go for gold in the right and were punished mightily, when the gradient re-established in the form of pressure from the left. Jay Cross, Jim Cunningham and Tomas Hornos sailed great beats and nice runs to the finish to claim the top prizes. Jeff Siegel and team sailed a nice race to finish fifth.

Overall for the regatta, Steve Benjamin has built a commanding lead over Dirk Kneulman and Michael Gavin, who are tied for second, with only nine points separating the next three teams. It remains to be seen whether two or three races can be sailed on Saturday, with a light breeze in the forecast.

Good luck everyone!

2015 Etchells North American Championship - Preliminary Cumulative Results   

Bow   Sail Number Yacht Name Yacht Design Skipper/Crew Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 T O Total North American Championship Racing One Design Division International Etchells 1. 28 USA 1228 Terrapin Etchells Steve Benjamin / George Peet / Luke Lawrence / Julian Sudofsky 1 11 4 2 1 [11] 8.0 2. 81 NZL 1381 NZL 1381 Etchells Dirker Kneulman / Hank Lammens / Kent Paisley 11 5 3 1 28 [28] 20.0 3. 5 USA 1305 Clean Execution Etchells Michael Gavin / Michael Gavin / Bill Abbott / Guy Rittger / Austin Schaefer 13 2 2 7 9 [13] 20.0 4. 8 USA 1408 Lifted Etchells Jim Cunningham / Jeff Madrigali / Alan Nakanishi / Bryn Bachman 9 8 7 6 3 [9] 24.0 5. 49 USA 1349 KGB (Corinthian) Etchells Senet Bischoff / Ben Kinney / Clay Bischoff 7 9 1 13 11 [13] 28.0 6. 0 USA 1200 Lion heart Etchells Steve Girling/Zeke Horowitz /David Lutian 6 4 10 9 12 [12] 29.0 7. 97 USA 926 Etchells Peter Duncan / Jud Smith / Tom Blackwell 2 14 6 10 16 [16] 32.0 8. 20 USA 1208 Gumption3 Etchells Kevin Grainger / Scott Norris / Max Skelley 4 1 20 14 36 [36] 39.0 9. 15 USA 1415 La Tormenta Etchells Shannon Bush / Brad Boston / Curt Oetking 8 15 14 4 24 [24] 41.0 10. 4 USA 1414 Skanky Gene Etchells Jay Cross / Marcus Spillanz / Mike Buckley / Lauren Gilooly 15 10 24 15 2 [24] 42.0 11. 96 CAN 1396 Aretas Etchells Jon McClean / Skip Dieball / Jeff Eiber 3 7 37/BFD 11 22 [37] 43.0 12. 98 USA 988 Destiny Etchells Tomas Hornos / Charlie Proctor / Duncan Swain / Paula Grasberger 14 37/DSQ 13 12 4 [37] 43.0 13. 85 USA 1198 America Jane 11 Etchells Scott Kaufman / Lucas Calabrase / Victor Diaz / Grant Simmer 17 16 5 5 30 [30] 43.0 14. 29 1296 1296 Etchells Tom Burnham / Jeff Siegal / Willem van Waay / Sarah Callahan 21 3 23 16 5 [23] 45.0 15. 68 CAN 968 Northern Etchells (Corinthian) Etchells Jerry Wendt / Irek Zubko / Alex Baker 20 12 16 20 8 [20] 56.0 16. 21 USA 1221 Riva Etchells Wade Edwards / Grant Matthews / Will Pelleteri 22 13 8 23 14 [23] 57.0 17. 41 USA 1341 USA 1341 Etchells Chuck Poindexter / David Dyson / Lincoln White 12 19 19 8 20 [20] 58.0 18. 88 USA 1388 Annnie (Corinthian) Etchells Gary Gilbert / Jordan Smith / Ridgely MacKenzie 32 25 9 18 7 [32] 59.0 19. 30 USA 1308 1308 (Corinthian) Etchells John Edenbach / TJ Pascalides / Will Christenson 5 17 15 26 33 [33] 63.0 20. 71 USA 1371 1371 Etchells Ken Womack / Watt Duffy / Dan Peckham 26 20 37/BFD 3 19 [37] 68.0 21. 32 USA 1012 Natasha (Corinthian) Etchells Ted Hardenbergh / Jamie Hardenbergh / Mark Hardenbergh 16 23 22 17 13 [23] 68.0 22. 7 USA 1307 Nemesis Etchells Jeff Nehms / Ezra Culver / Stu DeLisser 19 29 11 19 26 [29] 75.0 23. 22 USA 1222 Marx Bros (Corinthian) Etchells Chris Marx / Tom Marx / Dan Ronan 28 21 12 27 17 [28] 77.0 24. 74 USA 1074 Pete (Corinthian) Etchells Dan Smith / Sara Smith / Greg Hoyt / Fred Treffeisen 18 31 31 29 6 [31] 84.0 25. 35 USA 1309 Landed Gentry (Corinthian) Etchells Don Brush / Ken Felis / Rick Stevens 31 6 26 21 32 [32] 84.0 26. 60 USA 1260 Playmaker (Corinthian) Etchells Alan Kelly / Evan Aras / Ron Thompson 25 27 17 30 15 [30] 84.0 27. 64 CAN 1264 1264 (Corinthian) Etchells Erik Yeo / Darrell Suderman / Phil Jager 10 30 18 31 29 [31] 87.0 28. 3 USA 1303 Wizard (Corinthian) Etchells Keith Longson / Donald Weld / Sergio Vinelli 23 18 21 25 27 [27] 87.0 29. 63 USA 1063 Entourage (Corinthian) Etchells John Amendola / Nick Amendola / Curt Jazwieki 24 26 27 24 21 [27] 95.0 30. 47 CAN 1247 Rain (Corinthian) Etchells Allan Leibel / Mike Hren / Breck Mcfarlane 33 37/BFD 25 28 10 [37] 96.0 31. 14 USA 1363 1363 Etchells Michael Goldfarb / Mark Brink / David Brink 30 24 28 32 18 [32] 100.0 32. 9 USA 1209 Tithonus (Corinthian) Etchells David Smalley / Gregory Smalley / Brian McCloskey 29 22 30 33 23 [33] 104.0 33. 24 USA 1224 Lakota Etchells Peter Sulick / Robby Brown / Matt Shankweiler 27 28 37/BFD 22 35 [37] 112.0 34. 31 CAN 931 Impudence (Corinthian) Etchells David Lowther / Anthony Lowther / Andrew Lowther 34 33 29 34 25 [34] 121.0 35. 27 USA 427 Flame (Corinthian) Etchells Henry Gaillard / John Hencken / Tim Ponter 35 32 32 35 34 [35] 133.0 36. 6 USA 1206 Frisbee (Corinthian) Etchells John McConnell / Mark Hennelly / Erin Sprague 37/DNC 37/DNC 37/DNC 36 31 [37] 141.0   2015 Etchells North American Championship Corinthian Teams - Preliminary Cumulative Results Bow   Sail Number Yacht Name Yacht Design Skipper/Crew Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 T O Total North American Championship Racing One Design Division International Etchells 1. 49 USA 1349 KGB Etchells Senet Bischoff / Ben Kinney / Clay Bischoff 7 9 1 13 11 [13] 28.0 2. 68 CAN 968 Northern Etchells Etchells Jerry Wendt / Irek Zubko / Alex Baker 20 12 16 20 8 [20] 56.0 3. 88 USA 1388 Annnie Etchells Gary Gilbert / Jordan Smith / Ridgely MacKenzie 32 25 9 18 7 [32] 59.0 4. 30 USA 1308 1308 Etchells John Edenbach / TJ Pascalides / Will Christenson 5 17 15 26 33 [33] 63.0 5. 32 USA 1012 Natasha Etchells Ted Hardenbergh / Jamie Hardenbergh / Mark Hardenbergh 16 23 22 17 13 [23] 68.0 6. 22 USA 1222 Marx Bros Etchells Chris Marx / Tom Marx / Dan Ronan 28 21 12 27 17 [28] 77.0 7. 74 USA 1074 Pete Etchells Dan Smith / Sara Smith / Greg Hoyt / Fred Treffeisen 18 31 31 29 6 [31] 84.0 8. 35 USA 1309 Landed Gentry Etchells Don Brush / Ken Felis / Rick Stevens 31 6 26 21 32 [32] 84.0 9. 60 USA 1260 Playmaker Etchells Alan Kelly / Evan Aras / Ron Thompson 25 27 17 30 15 [30] 84.0 10. 64 CAN 1264 1264 Etchells Erik Yeo / Darrell Suderman / Phil Jager 10 30 18 31 29 [31] 87.0 11. 3 USA 1303 Wizard Etchells Keith Longson / Donald Weld / Sergio Vinelli 23 18 21 25 27 [27] 87.0 12. 63 USA 1063 Entourage Etchells John Amendola / Nick Amendola / Curt Jazwieki 24 26 27 24 21 [27] 95.0 13. 47 CAN 1247 Rain Etchells Allan Leibel / Mike Hren / Breck Mcfarlane 33 37/BFD 25 28 10 [37] 96.0 14. 9 USA 1209 Tithonus Etchells David Smalley / Gregory Smalley / Brian McCloskey 29 22 30 33 23 [33] 104.0 15. 31 CAN 931 Impudence Etchells David Lowther / Anthony Lowther / Andrew Lowther 34 33 29 34 25 [34] 121.0 16. 27 USA 427 Flame Etchells Henry Gaillard / John Hencken / Tim Ponter 35 32 32 35 34 [35] 133.0 17. 6 USA 1206 Frisbee Etchells John McConnell / Mark Hennelly / Erin Sprague 37/DNC 37/DNC 37/DNC 36 31 [37] 141.0