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:
Pos | Sail No | Yacht Name | Skipper / Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
1 | GBR 1493 | Eat
| Paul Ward / Charlie Cumbley / Paul Childs | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 13 |
2 | GBR 1409 | No Dramas | Andrew Lawson / Hamish Mackay / William Russell | 2 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 20 |
3 | GBR 1333 | Swedish BLUE (Corinthian) | Ante Razmilovic / Brian Hammersley / Andrew Mills | 4 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 21 |
4 | GBR 1470 | Gelert | James Howells / Ruairidh Scott / Jamie Lea | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | RET | DNS | 25 |
5 | GBR 1489 | Polaris | Stuart Childerley / Ben Childerley / Andy Hemmings / Roger Marino | 15 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 31 |
6 | GBR 1351 | Audrey (Corinthian) | Jon Warwick / Will Bedford / Fraser Woodley / Molly Speirs | 10 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 32 |
7 | GBR 1417 | China Wight | Nicholas Stagg / Simon Spraggs / Matt Reid | 6 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 33 |
8 | GBR 782 | Pulse (Corinthian) | Jake Hardman / Tiger Tellwright / Alex Smerdon / Hattie Askew | 5 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 39 |
9 | GBR 1407 | Ice (Corinthian) | Andrew Cooper / Mike Greville / Patrick Condy (sat/sun) / Quentin Bes‑Green (mon) | 7 | 7 | 6 | 12 | RET | 7 | 39 |
10 | GBR 1459 | Exabyte | Shaun Frohlich / David Bedford / Simon Fry | 12 | 9 | RET | 15 | 2 | 2 | 40 |
11 | GBR 1352 | Jolly Roger (Corinthian) | Matt Hannaby / Ben Palmer / Bruno van Dyke | 16 | 10 | RET | 10 | 7 | 5 | 48 |
12 | GBR 1439 | Rocketman (Corinthian) | Rob Goddard / Joe Burns / Ed Haynes / Vicky Cowan | 9 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 11 | DNF | 48 |
13 | GBR 1431 | Strait Dealer | Graham Sunderland / Bruce Huber / sam Penhaul‑Smith | 8 | 11 | 7 | 5 | DNS | DNS | 50 |
14 | GBR 1014 | Palavar | Seun Williams / Azat Ulutas / Jessye Opoku‑Ware / Martin Evans | 13 | 14 | DSQ | 11 | 9 | 6 | 53 |
15 | GBR 1353 | The Plant Hunter | Malcolm Offord / Laurence Mead / Camilo Ordobo | 11 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 60 |
16 | GBR 1490 | Colin | David Heritage / Will Heritage / Sophie Heritage / David Heritage | 17 | 5 | 8 | 14 | RET | DNS | 63 |
17 | GBR 1271 | Ziggy (Corinthian) | James Cunnison / Anna Watkins / Will James / Thea Crawshaw | 14 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 71 |
18 | GBR 1194 | Mano (Corinthian) | Samuel Jones / Iona Smith / Alistair Grant / Michael Starkie | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | 12 | 88 |