Top Class fleet for Australia Winter Etchells

by Ian Grant on 2 Jun 2006 The Australian Etchells class mid-winter championship trophy has become hot property attracting a number of high profile one-design sailors for the 2006 series off Mooloolaba on the June holiday weekend.

Sydney 2000 Olympic 470 class Gold Medalist Tom King , Etchells World Champions Iain Murray, Cameron Miles, Peter McNeill, Americas Cup winner John Bertrand and defending champion Rob Brown head an impressive fleet representing all Australian states, New Zealand and England.

This is by far the most outstanding line up of talent since Peter McNeill won the prestigious World championship trophy off Pt Cartwright in July 2004 and shows the Australian presence will be strong at the Audi Etchells World titles in Fremantle in November 2006

The present championship front runner is the Australian Open champion Rob Brown in Steam Packet VI but being the favourite on the entry list means very little until the ranking as Australia’s best is proved on the race course.

Rob Brown understands the real issues of match racing under extreme tactical pressure an experience he has treasured since John Bertrand steered Australia 11 to her historic Americas Cup win over the Dennis Conner helmed Liberty off Newport Rhode Island almost 23 years ago.

Brown will face personal pressure of a different kind in the tactical ‘bull ring’ off Mooloolaba Beach when a number of his mates who are friendly onshore will become his enemy on the water.

He was given a wake up call over the May Holiday weekend when John Bertrand steered Triad to win the hotly contested Queensland Championship from the Sunshine Coast sloop ET skippered by Rod Jones and the Matthew Chew helmed Southport Etchell fleet champion Echo Beach.

But every sailor who crews in an Etchell has been educated to accept that winning a title in this class of competition is never easy because of the tactical intensity involved with gaining the important edge with a clear wind start then protecting the position with a mistake free strategy.

A split second error at the start or a port tack approach to the first mark can mean the difference between winning and finishing back in the pack which makes safe sailing space a priority as each race described as game of aquatic chess is played out with extreme intensity.

All of the champion helmsmen are backed by equally skilled crews which makes this championship trophy one of the most difficult to win.

Local champion Rod Jones and his ET crew of Bucky Smith and Paul Meehan have been practicing extensively on the championship course and the local knowledge will be important but it will only take one critical error in the championship heats to cancel out any advantage.

'I made one bad error in the State championship which contributed to the one point difference between winning and finishing second'. Rod Jones said.

However the ET crew is aware the stakes for the Gold medal in the Winter Nationals is much higher with no less the 25 crews in the 50 boat fleet having the experience and tactical skills to win the series.

The Sunshine Coast combination of Rod Jones, Bucky Smith and Paul Meehan like John Bertrand, Iain Murray, Cameron Miles, Rob Brown and Peter McNeill will all start with an even chance but who will have the opportunity to present a victory speech will more than likely remain undecided until the final metres of the last heat on Monday June 12.