Eric Doyle wins Etchells Midwinters West at San Diego Yacht Club
by San Diego Yacht Club 9 Apr 2019 09:54 BST
5-7 April 2019
2019 Etchells Midwinters West © San Diego Yacht Club
The pressure was on at the Etchells Midwinters West, the only regatta of the Etchells West Coast Spring Series with no throw-out score option. All three days were full of tight, fast racing with intense competition, but Eric Doyle, sailing on USA 1177 with crew Patrick Powell and Justin Mendham, has a good start to the top spot on the series podium by finishing first this weekend.
Eric Doyle has been skippering the event for a couple of years, but has experience crewing for other Etchells sailors during this regatta too many times to count. "Once we had confidence that our rig tune and sail trim was correct and we were fast, we used excellent starts and conservative tactics to make sure we were always in the front of the fleet. We didn't have to take many risks and just kept chipping away at good finishes over the long series."
The regatta kicked off with only two races sailed on Friday due to light winds. Chris Snow's Avalanche and Tom Carruthers' Elizbeth set the standards on day one, both taking bullets in one of the races. Day two's breeze picked up to about 12 knots with challenging wind shifts. After three races, Jim Cunningham's Lifted and Eric Doyle's USA 1177 joined the competition. Day three ended with three races in typical San Diego winds, favoring the right side, making for the most competitive day of all.
"The last race was probably our best," Doyle started. "We had all the point scenarios figured out. We didn't have to win the race but we ended up having an incredible start and lead the whole way and got to enjoy the victory without too much stress." In fact, Doyle and his team only had one bullet the entire regatta... the final race.
Tom Carruthers with crew Chris Busch and Ben Mitchell finished fourth in the Etchells Midwinter West, currently sitting in third place in the 2019 West Coast Spring Series. Although the team saw two bullets through the weekend, they experienced some struggles on the course. "We broke our tiller extension within 30 seconds of the first start on Sunday. It was probably our best race as we had the best comeback to give us a keeper and keep us in contention."
Jim Cunningham currently holds first place in the overall Etchells West Coast Spring Series.
After the races, the skippers and crews all enjoyed a BBQ together at the San Diego Yacht Club Pavilion. Doyle and his team celebrated their first place finish by enjoying some rum out of their winning trophy!
Doyle will be sailing in the Etchells Pacific Coast Championships on April 27-28, 2019 before switching his focus back to the Star boat for the European Championships in Lake Garda, followed by the Star World Championships. Eventually, Doyle will be making it back to San Diego for the SoCal 300 and Yachting Cup.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Skipper | Sail No | Boat Name | BILL BENNETT | WEST (DNE) | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Jim Cunningham | 1404 | Lifted | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | Eric Doyle | 1177 | USA 1177 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Tom Carruthers | 1411 | Elizabeth | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | Kirsten Zillmann | 1066 | Lola | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 5 | Rick Goebel | 969 | Happy Ending | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 6 | Charlie Mann | 1138 | Jack | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| 7 | Xavier Sheid | 1234 | Pelikaan | 7 | 11 | 18 |
| 8 | Chris Snow | 1018 | Avalanche | 16 | 3 | 19 |
| 9 | Bruce Nelson | 986 | Rhino | 16 | 5 | 21 |
| 10 | Dave Vieregg | 984 | Hey Now | 16 | 8 | 24 |
| 11 | Mickey Ryan | 981 | AHui Hoi | 9 | 17 | 26 |
| 12 | Summer Greene | 909 | Mostly Harmless | 13 | 13 | 26 |
| 13 | Kjeld Hestehave | 971 | Miss Murphy | 16 | 10 | 26 |
| 14 | Kurt Tellefsen | 1214 | Maxfli | 11 | 16 | 27 |
| 15 | Patricia Stadel | 1313 | Triskaidekaphobia | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| 16 | Mike Terry | 1263 | Blue Fin | 10 | 18 | 28 |
| 17 | Chris Nesbitt | 1210 | t/t Yankee | 16 | 12 | 28 |
| 18 | David Whisenhunt | 524 | Mojo | 14 | 14 | 28 |
| 19 | Sherwood Kelley | 1092 | Coyote | 6 | 24 | 30 |
| 20 | Kurt Eve | 1016 | Bermuda Triangle | 16 | 19 | 35 |
| 21 | Pete Bellin | 1372 | 4 All The Chips | 16 | 20 | 36 |
| 22 | John Sutak | 901 | White Jacket | 16 | 21 | 37 |
| 23 | Scott Gordon | 776 | Bungle | 16 | 22 | 38 |
| 24 | Dale Gordon | 1044 | Hydrophilic | 16 | 23 | 39 |
| 25 | Nora Elsharhawy | 494 | Vision | 15 | 24 | 39 |