Etchells Worlds - What happened to Bertrand, Ainslie and Palfrey?

by Andrew Palfrey/Sail-World.com on 15 Mar 2009
Andrew ‘Dog’ Palfrey sailed with John Bertrand and Ben Ainslie at the Audi Etchells Worlds. They were leading the series going into Race 8, but then it went 'pear shaped' as Andrew reports.

‘Well, things did not pan out exactly the way we would have planned, but it has been a wonderful week regardless of the results.

‘Jason Muir’s Queensland team of Paul (Wyatt), Bucky (Smith) and Matty (Chew) did a fantastic job of sailing a very composed and consistent event and won with a race to spare. Going into the second last race we held the event lead by a point or two.

‘We had a wonderful start in the race, heading to the left side, but unfortunately for us the wind went right, slowly, by a factor of 15 degrees and we were in the 30’s at the first mark.

'On the run and the next beat we needed to throw the dice a little to get back into a point where we could at least challenge going into the last race, but as is usual in these situations we went backwards with each throw to the side we worked.

‘We finished 32nd and the Jason’s team came eighth. Regatta over. Well done to the Queenslanders! We also dropped a place further to third overall, with Team Barry from Melbourne overtaking us.

‘These Gen Xers (or is it Y…. stuffed if I know…anyway, they are whipper-snappers of about 30 something years old) sailed a nice event to cap off many years campaigning together in the Etchells. Well done to Damien, Sloth, Andy and Wareboy.

‘Basically, the Black Flag start disqualification mid-regatta cost us the breathing space of any room for error. Jason and his team made no big errors and were always there.

‘End of story!

‘To sail with JB and Ben in both Adelaide and Melbourne was something I will always treasure. JB is someone I have always had a large amount of respect for.

‘That level of respect went up a lot yesterday when I witnessed how well he responded to the tough day we had when the dream of winning the '09 worlds ended. He is a class act and a wonderful role model within our sport.

‘Ben, as we all know, is the most decorated sailor of the modern era. However I got to see him operate close-up. What an absolute professional and polished guy he is. An absolute honour for me to be associated with these guys….John and Rasa opened their home and their hearts to both Ben and I and also to my little family.

‘Wonderful people and a fantastic chemistry in our wider crew family that also included Ernie Lawrence and of course (in the days prior to the event) the world’s best sailing coach, Victor Kovalenko.

‘My final word is to say that from all of these sailing events there is a lot of silver-ware that the winners carry home.

‘However the thing we ALL walk away with is the memories of who we sailed with, who we sailed against, who ran the event and how we each interacted with all three of these entities on AND off the water.

‘In that sense, I have been a big winner, as I will only ever have positive memories of the 2009 Etchells worlds on every count. Well Done RBYC, the huge team of volunteers and the Melbourne Etchells Fleet.

‘Over and out from Melbourne. Time to resume the real business in life of wrestling with three rug-rats who put real perspective into my life!’

Published with Permission of Andrew Palfrey www.Sailing-Dog.com