International Etchells Class Association
IGC Chairman’s Letter to the Membership
published 12/25/2022
Dear Etchells Sailors worldwide,
As of the end of 2022 I will no longer be the Chair of the IGC so I thought it might be a good idea to write a brief note to the membership before I go. Let me say, it has been my distinct honour to serve the class in this capacity over the past 24 months. The challenges of Covid and its effect on scheduling regattas, especially World Championships, the ongoing crisis over the Mould 11 boats, and the necessary steps of writing a new constitution and refreshing the Class Rules have all conspired to keep an enormous cohort of incredibly dedicated and competent volunteers busy for virtually the entire period of this administration. The results of these efforts are palpable and signal a new era in the 50-plus year history of our class, which we hope will keep us as the Champion of Champions racing class for the next half century.
Let me just recapitulate what we collectively have achieved on behalf of the entire Etchells community over the past two years.
Recap of Initiatives started by this administration in its first year (2021):
As suggested by the previous administration led by Jim Cunningham and Chris Hampton, an audit committee was struck and started on the process of writing a new constitution and reviewing all Class Rules, plans and drawings, and construction notes in order to eliminate omissions and inconsistencies, conform to the current World Sailing template for governance documents for international sailboat classes, and to strengthen and reaffirm the class’ commitment to its strict one-design ethos. The rules rewrite committee came to be known as the “One Design Project” or 1DP, the leadership of which was assumed by Jamie McWilliam (HK).
In order to independently evaluate the differences between M11 boats and Etchells, an international panel of marine architecture experts led by Tom Schnackenberg (NZ) was assembled and empowered to study the shape differences between the boats and try to come up with some sort of modification to the M11 boats which would allow them to ultimately race level against Etchells.
In order to pursue the twin goals of a) modifying the existing M11 boats and b) creating a new mould (to be called M12) for the manufacture of class-rule-compliant Etchells sailboats in Australia, the Build Panel was struck consisting of the builders, independent expert Grant Simmer (AUS), several members of our One-Design Technical Committee (ODTC), with myself and IECAA President Martin Hill as observers.
Notable Achievements in 2022:
New Executive Secretary: Late in 2021, Sherri Campbell signaled her desire to retire early in 2022. Sherri provided the continuity and administrative excellence that kept the management of this class on track for the previous 15 years. After a search committee consisting of Peter Duncan, Don Jesberg and myself identified and interviewed a half a dozen excellent candidates, the IGC hired Alli Bell to take over from Sherri as Executive Secretary of both the IECA and the North American Class. Alli brings a wealth of wisdom and experience to the job. She holds a PhD in Higher Education and operates a consultancy that specializes in strategic planning, project management, and research and evaluation. In addition to her work with the IECA and the NA Association, she has and continues to serve in a volunteer capacity on various boards such as the San Diego YC, the Transpacific YC and the Cruising Club of America. (Thanks to Search Committee members Don Jesberg, Peter Duncan and Andy Cumming)
Constitution: The Etchells Class has a new constitution which essentially replaces the old Class Association Rules. This document conforms to World Sailing (WS) standards for a Class Constitution under current class governance guidelines, has been voted on by the Membership of the Class, and has been accepted and published by WS. The document was published to the Class Website in March 2022. (Thanks to Niesje Hees (AUS), Stuart Childerley (UK), Mark Yeadon (HK) and Jamie McWilliam (HK))
Event Manual, Race Management Guidelines: An Event Manual, also compliant with WS standards, has been written in order to make the running of all class sanctioned events consistent from event to event and compliant with best practices. Included are templates for Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions for World Championships which can be downloaded and edited for use in all levels of sanctioned events. These documents were published to the class website in May 2022. (Thanks to Niesje Hees (AUS) and Stuart Childerley (UK))
Class Rules: Led by Jamie McWilliam, a massive rewrite of the Class Rules, along with modifications and improvements to the plans and drawings was created during the period of late 2021 to mid 2022. Prior to undertaking this project, our Class Rules and Plans contained a number of inconsistencies and omissions, so much so that the essential one-design aspect of the boats was in peril. The ODTC was inundated with requests to review and make interpretations of many of these problems, and as a group worked very diligently through 2021 and 2022 to address these as they were pointed out by members and builders. The new rules were then voted on by the class, and subsequently submitted to World Sailing for final ratification and approval. These are now in effect and were published on the class website in November 2022. (Deep gratitude to Jamie McWilliam (HK), Mick McCool (HK) and Roger Reynolds (UK), Class Measurer Bill Abbott (CAN), and professional consultants Alistair Deaves (NZ) and Guy Whitehouse (UK)).
M11 Modification Panel: Chaired by Tom Schnackenberg (NZ), this independent panel was struck in 2021 upon the confirmation by fresh scans of multiple boats from each manufacturer being compared by Australian Measurer Shaun Ritson, the result being that M11 boats were found to be of a distinctly different shape than Etchells created from moulds which originated from Plug 2. CFD analysis confirmed that the M11 shape produces less drag than the P2 shape, especially at speeds approaching the hull speed. After aborting a number of inadequate methods for equalizing the drag, the panel happened upon a brilliant solution. If the M11 boats have essentially the same sections as Etchells, but just a reduced rocker perhaps Etchells speed characteristics could be restored by simply adding back the rocker. A digital version of the M11 boat was sliced from kelson to sheer (but leaving the deck intact) along station planes fore and aft of the keel. The virtual boat was then lifted in the bow and stern to put back rocker. Various degrees of lift were applied to the bow and stern and CFD analysis performed and compared to the Etchells shape. In this way, the rocker was fine-tuned until the drag differences across a wide range of hull speeds were reduced to very nearly zero, and a final shape determined. Martin Hill graciously offered up his M11 boat (AUS 1484) for modification under the new protocol, which was written by Jamie McWilliam. (thanks to Tom Schnackenberg (NZ), Grant Simmer (AUS), Len Imas (US), Steve Killing (CAN), Bruce Nelson (US), Shaun Ritson (AUS) and Casey Brown (US))
Build Panel: Chaired by Niesje Hees (AUS), this group was put together as a joint initiative by the IECA and the IECAA to oversee the practicalities of modifying the M11 boats (as specified by the M11 Modification Panel), in addition to the construction of a new mould (M12) to be used going forward for the manufacture of Class-Rules-Compliant Etchells sailboats in Australia. The vast majority of stakeholders believe that the strength of the class going forward as a global international heavyweight depends on having manufacturing capabilities in Australia, and it was considered one of the paramount goals of 2022 to get Plug 2 prepared for the pulling of a new mould, get it shipped to Australia for that purpose and get the creation of a new mould underway. Unfortunately this project faced a number of delays mostly due to shipping logistics from Canada to Australia, after the plug had been prepared by Ontario Yachts. Innovation Composites of Nowra, NSW will be the builder of the mould and ultimately be licenced to make Etchells from that mould, once it has been verified and approved by World Sailing. IC is also doing the modifications to M11 boats, and so even once the plug got to AUS there were more delays in commencing to build the new mould, however, that project is now underway as I write this.
As for M11 modifications, eight boats have been modified and have been racing in events in Australia. There have been no structural issues with the modified boats and early indications are that they perform in line with Etchells Class sailboats. These boats have been and will continue to be allowed to race as agreed upon in the IGC Resolution. The long-term status of these boats will be determined by a class vote in April 2024.
(Thanks to the following individuals for their continuing service on the Build Panel: Chair Niesje Hees (AUS), Grant Simmer (AUS), Jamie McWilliam (HK), Andrew Palfrey (UK), Bill Abbott (CAN), Phil Smidmore (AUS), Mark Rowed (AUS), Dirk Kneulman (CAN), and David Heritage (UK).
Newsletter: Marty Kaye (HK) undertook in 2021 to create a quarterly newsletter, of which you are reading the 4Q22 edition right now. This initiative has and will continue to be the way news about the class, the deliberations of the IGC and any other matters of interest to the Membership will be communicated. The newsletter is always in need of more content. Anything happening in your neck of the woods which might be of interest to the broader community, please reach out to Alli Bell.
Website: Another area of improvement we have been working on over the past two years is the maintenance and organization of the class website. Alli keeps this resource updated on a weekly basis. Have a look and familiarize yourselves again with it, if you have not already done so recently. All the new documents germane to the class reside there in their latest editions, along with an archive of matters currently before the ODTC for consideration, and latest news. We are still working on making improvements, but the intent is to make the website the go-to place for all members to keep up to date on developments within the class.
In addition to those I have thanked individually in each section above, I would like to once again extend on behalf of myself and the class our deep gratitude to all the members of the IGC and the ODTC. You can find their names on the website. Please look them up and thank them when you see them in the boat park. With the new administration coming in next month, many of these committee assignments will change. It has been a productive and hardworking group these past couple of years. A truly monumental number of essential tasks have been completed to put us on track to realize our goal of keeping the Etchells Class as the premier One-Design Class for Champions from all other fields of sailing competition to come together and vie for bragging rights as the best-of-the-best in international sailing.
Fair winds to you all,
Andy