Bermuda’s Patton racks up 20 Etchells World Championships

by Tracey Johnstone on 10 Mar 2009 Sailing into his 20th Etchells World Championship on Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne this week, Bermuda skipper Tim Patton is still fanatical about one-design Etchells racing.

A combination of brilliant competition and long-lasting friendships, said Patton, ensures he keeps coming back to race in Etchells World Championships.

“This event represents the biggest financial undertaking I take every year. It’s the people you have known for years that you get to see again. The friendships get longer and stronger and the boat is just the most magnificent boat to sail,” Patton said.

“The class continues to flourish because the boat is just magnificent to sail. Lots of boats have come and gone, but the Etchells still attracts the very top sailors.”

Patton’s passion for the class and its high level of competition can be heard clearly in his voice as he continues to detail the key attractions of Etchells. “The overriding factor is their one-design. For a class that is so old, it is very special that you can take a 20-year-old boat and it will compete against a brand new boat.

“The old boats are keeping their value. It is the one-design that attracts a lot of people because you can’t buy speed. The boats just sail so beautifully, they are so close winded. And when it comes to downwind, because we don’t sail them with asymmetric spinnakers, there are more tactics involved as the boats sail more square.”

In the Audi Etchells World Championship 2009 Patton is pitted against a fleet of 85 Etchells skippered and crewed by Olympians, World Champions and America’s Cup sailors. With three races completed, Patton and his crew of Bermuda sailor Peter Martin and local Melbourne sailor David Morrell are placed 52nd overall.

The first day of racing delivered a 54 and a 61. The second day they were fourth around the first mark just metres behind America’s Cup legendary skipper John Bertrand. But, by the last lap of the course the light winds took their toll with Patton gradually falling back in the fleet to finish 28th.

Patton started sailing small boats in Bermuda when he was 10-years-old. A few years at school in Canada, then Patton was back home and ready to take on the Etchells. While he has competed in a few offshore races, the 54-year-old still prefers the 30-foot one-design Etchells boat.

“There were four in Bermuda and one was owned by a chap that wasn’t there very often. He was keen to have it sailed and I was allowed to sail it. I was young and with very little money and he was kind enough to support my sailing habit for a number of years. And I taught his children to sail on the boat.” Patton reports there now about 14 active Etchells racing in Bermuda.

Off the water Patton has put a considerable amount of his energy into assisting with the administration of the class. For the last 17 years he has been on the Board of Governors. Six of those years he was Chairman. In those years he has seen only a few necessary changes to the class.

“I wrote the original weigh-in rule, which has changed somewhat since then because we realised fairly early on the more you weighed, the faster the boats sailed. I was also very involved in helping to change the class rules to allow boats to be sailed four-up. We are now getting younger people involved because of that change.”

In the future Patton hopes not too much will change. “It is vitally important we retain our one-design. At the same time it is almost equally important that the class continues to develop in a way that keeps it modern without doing anything to the integrity of the one-design rule.”

Back on the water is where Patton prefers to be. His first World Championship was in 1982 in San Francisco. His best result was fourth in 1988. ”We were blazingly fast. There was also a good ration of luck that year.”

His worst result ? Possibly in Toronto in 1986. “The wind was light and fickle, and cold,” Patton said.

When it comes to the best Australian venue, Patton said “all are different, all are wonderful. The Perth beer tastes best because it is so dry there. Mooloolaba was wonderful because of its casual beach lifestyle. In fact, they have all been good.

“It’s the people who make the regatta more than the venue itself.”

Already looking towards the next World Championship in Ireland, Patton admits as long as his back holds out and he can qualify through his local Royal Bermuda Yacht Club fleet, he will back again for another Etchells World Championship.

Full championship results http://www.audietchellsworlds2009.com.au