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Etchells Sir Kenneth Preston Trophy 2021 at the Royal Yacht Squadron

by Jake Hardman 5 May 2021 08:41 PDT 1-3 May 2021
Etchells Sir Kenneth Preston Trophy 2021 © Andrew Palfrey

The 2021 Sir Kenneth Preston Trophy for the Etchells class was run by the Royal Yacht Squadron over the Early May Bank Holiday weekend 1st-3rd May.

A strong entry of 18 boats were met with light and changeable winds on the first day of the event, with the race committee making every attempt possible to get a race in, but with no luck. Boats were towed out to the race area and several attempts were made to start races, but all were eventually abandoned due to the light and shifty breeze.

After a 2-hour postponement on shore on the second day, boats were again towed to the race area but this time the breeze was stronger and more steady, allowing the race committee to get four great races in. In the first race of the day, in a building southerly breeze of 8-10 knots, a huge 30-degree wind shift shuffled the pack up the second beat, allowing James Howells' Gelert to take the win.

The second race of the day was won by Ante Razmilovic on Swedish Blue, with the breeze now up to 12-15 knots from the SW. In race three, Paul Ward's brand new Eat, Sleep, E, Repeat was the winner while Gelert was again the winner in the final race of the day as the breeze died off, and some boats were caught out as the tide started to turn, to finish the day as overnight leader having scored two bullets and two seconds.

The race committee decided to send the fleet out early on the third and final day of the regatta with a first start at 9:30 am in order to get some races in before a storm blew through, bringing up to 40 knots of wind later in the day. Stuart Childerley on Polaris showed his speed in the strong winds to win race 5 by over a minute, whilst sadly the overnight leader Gelert suffered gear failure meaning that they had to retire from all of the day's racing. In the final race, Eat, Sleep, E, Repeat was the winner, with the wind now over 20 knots with gusts in the high 20's, the race committee shortened the course at the second windward mark as the breeze continued to build. Some boats were by now sitting noticeably lower in the water due to bilge pump failure!

The final result was that Paul Ward's Eat, Sleep, E, Repeat with crew Charlie Cumbley and Paul Ward won the Sir Kenneth Preston Trophy, first Corinthian team was Ante Razmilovic's Swedish Blue with Brian Hammersley and Andrew Mills and first Youth team was Jake Hardman, Tiger Tellwright, Alex Smerdon and Hattie Askew on Pulse.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoYacht NameSkipper / CrewR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1  GBR 1493Eat Paul Ward / Charlie Cumbley / Paul Childs33195113
2  GBR 1409No DramasAndrew Lawson / Hamish Mackay / William Russell24964420
3  GBR 1333Swedish BLUE (Corinthian)Ante Razmilovic / Brian Hammersley / Andrew Mills414163921
4  GBR 1470GelertJames Howells / Ruairidh Scott / Jamie Lea1221RETDNS25
5  GBR 1489PolarisStuart Childerley / Ben Childerley / Andy Hemmings / Roger Marino1516521831
6  GBR 1351Audrey (Corinthian)Jon Warwick / Will Bedford / Fraser Woodley / Molly Speirs10121036332
7  GBR 1417China WightNicholas Stagg / Simon Spraggs / Matt Reid6638101133
8  GBR 782Pulse (Corinthian)Jake Hardman / Tiger Tellwright / Alex Smerdon / Hattie Askew51512481039
9  GBR 1407Ice (Corinthian)Andrew Cooper / Mike Greville / Patrick Condy (sat/sun) / Quentin Bes‑Green (mon)77612RET739
10  GBR 1459ExabyteShaun Frohlich / David Bedford / Simon Fry129RET152240
11  GBR 1352Jolly Roger (Corinthian)Matt Hannaby / Ben Palmer / Bruno van Dyke1610RET107548
12  GBR 1439Rocketman (Corinthian)Rob Goddard / Joe Burns / Ed Haynes / Vicky Cowan9813711DNF48
13  GBR 1431Strait DealerGraham Sunderland / Bruce Huber / sam Penhaul‑Smith81175DNSDNS50
14  GBR 1014PalavarSeun Williams / Azat Ulutas / Jessye Opoku‑Ware / Martin Evans1314DSQ119653
15  GBR 1353The Plant HunterMalcolm Offord / Laurence Mead / Camilo Ordobo11131113121460
16  GBR 1490ColinDavid Heritage / Will Heritage / Sophie Heritage / David Heritage175814RETDNS63
17  GBR 1271Ziggy (Corinthian)James Cunnison / Anna Watkins / Will James / Thea Crawshaw14171417131371
18  GBR 1194Mano (Corinthian)Samuel Jones / Iona Smith / Alistair Grant / Michael StarkieDNSDNSDNSDNSDNS1288

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