UK Etchells Youth Selection Trials Results

03/19/2014

After competitive trials involving seven teams racing one design Etchells in the Solent on 15/16 March, three teams of youths aged 18 to 25 have been chosen to race in the 24 boat Cowes Etchells Fleet on fully funded yachts.

This is the third year of these trials backed by the RYA and UKSA British Keelboat Academy which has seen over 90 young and talented sailors race on the boats. The winning teams will race in the active Etchells programme, including the local SCRA races, Cowes Week, and Nationals and Europeans in Weymouth in September as an early build up for the Etchells Weymouth  Worlds in 2016.

The winner is One Design at the Etchells Victorian Championship

03/12/2014

Some have said that they find Etchells more than a tad underwhelming. True, Skip Etchells’ design is more than 40 years old, they have aluminium masts, Dacron sails and fractional, symmetrical spinnakers. That’s hardly the coolest stuff going around. However, when you have a different winner for nearly every race, the sport’s greatest coming back, and then back again to sail them, and that they are always closely fought contests, then you have to ponder why that might be so.

No wind required for the first race at the Etchells Victorian Championship

03/08/2014

Truthfully, we’re not actually talking about Race One of the regatta. Rather, you could probably refer to it as Race Zero, if you like, for it has no direct bearing on the outcome of the 2014 Etchells Victorian Championship. Earlier on in the week, it became very apparent that many of the crews were going to take the opportunity after a hefty drive to Metung in Gippsland, to then get out on the water of the great lakes and have some practice.

Appreciation flows at the Garmin Etchells NSW Championship

02/16/2014

Well it just has to be a massive thank you. The Garmin Etchells NSW Championship owes a lot to the competitors, the volunteers, the Gosford Sailing Club and everyone has to thank Huey, the God of Wind, too. He may have been later than required and frustratingly so at that, but when he showed up in the middle of the afternoon, he delivered in spades. The best racing of the entire series was saved for the short, but oh-so-sweet last race. It had everything. Up to 22 knots of breeze from the South, plenty of rain, significantly reduced visibility, a short little chop and if you had your eyes out of the boat a little, some wonderful vistas with mist in the surrounding hills and even a spectacularly sunny patch over Gosford. Yes. You did have to be quick or you would miss that last one though.

No love from Huey at the Garmin Etchells NSW Championship

02/15/2014

So if Valentines Day was all about the love, then the memo did not reach Huey. Yes, the God of Wind had no idea about it all and perhaps could even have been giving everyone mixed messages. There was no breeze to speak of early, then it arrived early afternoon and was quite possibly the fullest it had been all regatta. Please note that full does not mean strong or even fresh. No sooner had Huey supplied the closest racing of the entire Garmin Etchells NSW Championship than he took it away, to then give hope again once more, before finally closing the shop down for the night.

It’s all about love at Garmin Etchells NSW Championship

02/14/2014

It was not hard to end up feeling the love for the Garmin Etchells NSW Championship being run out of Gosford. Yes it was Valentines Day, but that was not the reason. In fact, as you walked around the quay this morning, you may have felt a tension. It was not unrequited and certainly not inappropriate in this PC world. It was not quite fear...

RYA & UK Etchells Class promotion of youth keelboat sailors

01/30/2014

With the continuation of a very successful initiative which commenced in 2012, young sailors who aspire to race one design keelboats at the highest level are being given a unique chance to apply to take custody of a number of fully race prepared Etchells, 30ft keelboats, completely free of charge for most of the 2014 racing season.

The OD gets set for the Garmin 2014 Etchells NSW Championship

01/22/2014

At a time when many a class would be lucky to have 20 entries for an Australian Championship, the Etchells already have that number for their next event. Yes, the Etchells once again prove that they are THE One Design keelboat. To be sailed out of the charming Gosford Sailing Club on Brisbane Waters, the Garmin 2014 Etchells NSW Championship...

Fitting finale at the 2013-14 AUS Nationals

12/12/2013

In the very year that Australia marks the passage of 30 years since a group of dedicated sailors changed the course of sporting history, and as celebrations for the Etchells 40th anniversary draw to an end, it seems terribly fitting that the two should be inexorably linked.

2013 AUS Nationals - Bertrand continues to dominate

12/12/2013

The Triad team of John Bertrand, Andrew Palfrey and Grant Simmer continued their dominance of the Australian Etchells Championship today, winning their second consecutive race.

Big Prize at the 2013-14 AUS Nationals

12/12/2013

It seems there is a lot of attention paid by all sailors at the 2013-14 Etchells Australian Championship to getting a bullet. Now whilst only one crew will achieve that particular prize, it would seem that all sailors are getting something very much just as valuable, if not as immediately identifiable – knowledge wrapped up in a blanket of good times.

Bling at the 2013-14 AUS Nationals

12/12/2013

It is a long established fact that the Etchells always attract yachting’s best to their tight and well-organised events. At the 2013/14 Etchells Australian Championship, being run off the world famous Gold Coast, this is once again being totally ratified.

2013 AUS Nationals Day Two Shift at the Top

12/12/2013

The second day of racing in the Etchells Australian Championship, being hosted by Southport Yacht Club on Queensland’s Gold Coast, saw the top two teams trade places overall in another day of perfect Etchells weather. Going into the start of the day John Bertrand’s Triad was on equal first with David Clark’s Fifteen. Peter McNeill’s Iris III ..

2013 AUS Nationals - Day One

12/04/2013

The Australian Etchells class National Championship started today in shifty, soft conditions, on the offshore waters of Queensland’s Gold Coast. The six-time national champion, world champion, Olympian and America’s cup helmsman, John Bertrand, called today’s racing fabulous; not just once, but several times.

2013 AUS Nationals Preview

11/06/2013

Etchells Nationals – dark horse Bradford knows how to time his run

A short break in the Black Jack big boat program is affording Mark Bradford the chance to slip down to Queensland’s Gold Coast to compete in next week’s Etchells National Championship. Some of his fellow Etchells competitors consider Bradford will be the dark horse to watch during the championship. He has recruited to his team two of his long-standing sailing mates - Olympic and America’s Cup level sailors Anthony Nossiter and Will McCarthy. Both have sailed with Bradford on his big boat campaigns; on Loyal when it won the 2011 Sydney Hobart Race and again in that race last year aboard the Reichel Pugh 66 Black Jack.

Timothea “Timmy” Larr honored

11/05/2013

Etchells Class life member, Timmy Larr was recently inducted to the National (USA) Sailing Hall of Fame. She noted her two Etchells North American Championship wins as her most important wins. See her full bio for more details. Congratulations, Timmy!