Etchells Bill Bennett Cup at San Diego Yacht Club

This past weekend, champion Vince Brun is walking away from the Bill Bennett Cup with a lot more than just his first place finish. Brun and Bennett sailed together to win the Etchells World Championship in 2000, and for Brun, this regatta is a sentimental one.

"I won Worlds with Billy. He was really the glue of the Etchells program," said Brun. "He was always extremely competitive in sports, he was just good. But he was also the one who would pick you up when you were down. He was the one who was always paying attention and could keep you on track."

Named in the honour of the beloved Etchells sailor, the Bill Bennett Cup is the first in a four-part West Coast Series. To find the minds behind the series, you wouldn't have to look far down the scoreboard. The idea behind the series was planted when Brun went to lunch with Tom Carruthers, who led the scoreboards on Saturday and went on to finish second overall. "We were looking at the Jaguar Series in Miami, and really wanted to create a similar competition on the West Coast," Carruthers said. "With the Worlds being held in San Francisco in 2017, the West Coast had a really natural pull."

With San Diego's year-round racing conditions, the West Coast Series is an opportunity for many Etchells sailors to gain experience sailing in some lighter winds than Miami. For Jeremy Thorp, who has only been sailing in the Etchells fleet for 10 months, the series is a way to get ready to compete on a World Championship level.

"Right now, we're just going to all different parts of the world to practice in different conditions," said Thorp, who has his eyes set on competing in the World Championships in Hong Kong and the U.K.

San Diego's breezes played coy over Saturday and Sunday, causing Organizing Authorities to postpone racing for about 30 minutes each day while they waited for the wind to fill in. On Saturday, those winds, peaking at about 10 kts, brought Carruthers, Brun and Tyler Sinks to the top of the scoreboard. In the three races of the day, Carruthers, Brun and Argyle Campbell all secured first-place finishes. The rest of the 25-boat fleet would be weighed down by at least one double-digit finish.

Sunday's breezes brought more pressure and shiftier wind directions, as Brun, Carruthers and Sinks continued their battle at the top of the fleet. The final scores of the regatta were Vince Bun with 23 points, Carruthers with 26 points and Sinks with 35 points.

The West Coast Series will continue next weekend at the Etchells Midwinter Championship, with racing taking place from March 27th to 29th. Land Rover of San Diego and North Sails are sponsoring the West Coast Series, which is hosted at the San Diego Yacht Club.

For regatta results and an upcoming regatta schedules, please visit www.sdyc.org/race.