Racing got under way for the magnificent Etchells fleet, with a one-day practice regatta, organised by North Sails One-Design expert, and current Etchells World Champion, Skip Dieball. Competitors enjoyed on-the-water coaching and a video debrief after racing. The Solent served up conditions to fully power up the Etchells fleet, with a mean wind speed of 20 knots and gusting close to 30. To add to the mix, wind over tide produced classic choppy Solent conditions to fully test the fleet.
“We wanted to get a couple of practice races in today, to give people the opportunity to experience the race course and to warm up.” commented Skip. “North Sails, as a sponsor of the regatta, wanted to add a bit more of a punch, so we had on the water coaching and a debrief afterwards. We knew it was going to be up-range sailing, and crews had to be mindful of controlling their boats in those conditions.
One area that was discussed in the debrief was correct boat set up. Talking in general terms for today's conditions, you are looking for a flat main and a little more twist in the jib, which will help balance the helm, and that all comes about between communication between the trimmer and the driver - that was the take-away today, for sure. The difference between the teams that were going well, and those that were not, was their set up and technique.
The Etchells Class is as good a class as there is, many classes have top 10-20 percent winning races. In this class it goes a lot deeper than that, especially at a World Championship. It will come down to score management, that includes managing your bad races. You need to make sure you don't post a 15, when a 10 is a keeper – that's what this regatta is going to be about.”
Runner up at the 2015 Etchells World Championship, USA Olympic silver medalist Steve Benjamin, showed great speed and boat handling to win both practice races. In Race 1, Jim Cunningham's team from San Francisco showed early promise scoring a second. Mark Thornburrow's team from Hong Kong was third. In Race 2, Robert Elliott's Royal Yacht Squadron team, which included British Olympic sailors, Lucy MacGregor and Annie Lush, finished second. James Badenach's Royal Hong Kong YC team was third.
Full Results from North Sails Training Regatta: Click here
The Etchells Open European Championship starts tomorrow, 29 August. Five races are scheduled over two days of racing. The first warning signal will be not before 10:30 (gmt+1). Live tracking and updates will be available.
