Etchells World Championships at Chicago Yacht Club - Day 5

A nail-biting race on day five of the Etchells worlds © J. Tamagna-Darr / www.timwilkes.com

A nail-biting race on day five of the Etchells worlds © Tim Wilkes / www.timwilkes.com

Jud Smith wins Race 5 moving him to second behind Hardesty

After a late start, day 5 of Etchells Worlds produced an exciting nail-biter race among the afternoon’s top competitors. The first three boats established a significant lead over the rest of the fleet early in the race. Through many lead changes, the three race leaders duked it out at the top of the fleet. Ultimately, Jud Smith, Henry Frazer, and James Porter of the U.S. crossed the finish in a decisive first place after rounding the last leeward mark behind the race’s 2nd place finishers Hank Lammens, Dirk Kneulman, and Dwayne Smithers of Canada and 3rd place finishers Dave Dwyer, Andy Beadsworth and Simon Fry of Ireland.

“We sailed an aggressive race,” Smith, the 2006 Etchells World Champion remarked. “We started close at the pin and sailed hard out to the left.” Though Smith led around the first windward and leeward marks of the race, they lost the lead and fell to 3rd on the second upwind beat, while the team of Dwyer, Beadsworth, and Fry came out on top by a comfortable gap followed by Canadian boat Lammens, Kneulman, and Smithers. Lammens placed

Smith explained that they were counting on a righty, but on the second upwind beat the wind died on the right side before the shift filled, and Dwyer/Beadsworth and Lammens were able to slip by from the left. Smith gained back much of the lost ground on the downwind leg and rounded the last leeward mark almost even with Lammens, where they made a bold decision to split with the two leaders and round the right gate.

With the large gap between the three leaders and the rest of the fleet, “we had nothing to loose,” Smith explained. “We were confident the right would come in, so we made the decision to split with Hank at the gate and go right.” The strategy paid off. With today’s first place, Smith’s team moves from 6th to 2nd in the overall standings.

Over the past few days, many of the teams struggled with the long onshore postponements and extended delays on the water as the Race Committee reset the course numerous times to accommodate the shifting winds. As many sailors have experienced, these kinds of delays pose a challenge for competitors, making it difficult to maintain focus, energy, and the “competitive edge” all racers value. “Our coach helps a lot,” Smith said. “He keeps us focused and makes sure we know what’s going on with the conditions. We knew to keep an eye on the clouds and to look for the right to fill.”

Despite strong finishes by Smith, Lammens, and Dwyer/Beadsworth in race 5, Hardesty still holds the overall lead by 12 points with a respectable 8th place finish today. His team is in a good position to take the World Championship title if they pull out one more solid finish in tomorrow's final race. Currently he is followed in the standings by Jud Smith, Henry Frazer, and James Porter with 68 points and Chris Busch, Chad Hough, Chuck Sinks, and Peter Burton with 86 points.

Tomorrow the Race Committee plans to run one long quality race to finish off the 6 races necessary to complete the regatta. This 6th race will allow the competitors a “drop race,” which could have a meaningful effect on the scores. With the worst finishes of each boat excluded from the scores, we can expect to see some shuffling in the places. Most of the regatta leaders have one deeper race, so it will be important for them to do well in tomorrow. This should mean some heavy competition for the last day of Worlds here in Chicago.

The Etchells World Championship is held at Chicago Yacht Club and presented by World Sport Chicago. The regatta runs June 23-28, with the 29th as a reserve day.

Results after Day 5: (top ten)

For a full listing of the current standings go to www.etchellsworlds2008.com or www.chicagoyachtclub.org