Etchells Sir Kenneth Preston Trophy at the Royal Yacht Squadron
by David Franks 28 May 2015 08:26 BST
23-24 May 2015
The 21st Regatta for Sir Kenneth Preston Trophy held on the 23rd and 24th of May was won by Shaun Frohlich, David Bedford and Duncan Truswell sailing Exabyte in the seventeen boat fleet.
There was insufficient wind to race on the Saturday so the Regatta was settled by three races on Sunday sailing in a strengthening breeze. The Royal Yacht Squadron Race Officer Colonel Tony Singer ran his race team with military precision and never put a foot wrong. Willie McNeil, returning to join the Etchells Fleet this year with his new boat HANCOCK, claimed second place just one point behind Shaun, and was also the first ISAF Cat1 Corinthian crew. Ante Razmilovic on SWEDISH BLUE matched Willie's 12 points but under the count back system was placed third.
The racing was very tight, with at times just a few boat lengths separating most of the seventeen boat fleet, making for exciting mark roundings. Robert Elliott had a dream two races (recording a first and a second) but ended up with a thirteenth place in one race so his name will not appear on the coveted SKP Winners Board in the Royal Yacht Squadron's Platform. Instead it will be Shaun Frohlich's name alongside such sailing legends as Stuart Childerley, Chris Law, Adam Gosling, Ante Razmilovic, and three time SKP winner Laurence
Mead. But there's always next year!
Overall Results:
1. Shaun Frohlich. EXABYTE. 3,7,1: 11pts
2. Willie McNeil. HANCOCK. 7,1,4: 12pts
3. Ante RazmilovicSWEDISH BLUE. 4,5,3: 12pts
4. Peter Rogers HIGH LIFE. 2,4,8: 14pts
5. Robert Elliott TIME & TIDE. 1,13,2: 16pts
6. Andrew Cooper. ICE. 6,6,5: 17pts
7. Jeremy Thorp PHAN 11,2,6: 19pts
8. Nick Stagg. CHINA WHITE. 5,9,9: 23pts
9. Matt Reid. MANO. 10,10,7: 27pts
10. Greg Hodkinson/Don Shillingburg. ESPRIT. 9,3,18: 30pts
11. David Franks STRAIT DEALER 8,11,11: 30pts
12. Rosie Watkins PALAVER. 16,8,18: 34pts
13. Kevin Downer. ZIGGY. 12,16,12: 40pts
14. Rob Goddard. STAMPEDE. 14,12,15: 41pts
15. David Kitchen. MANTA RAY. 15,15,13: 43pts
16. Stacey Clark. SUMO. 13,18,18: 49pts
17. Steve Lines & Matt Hannaby. ESCAPE. 17,16,16: 49pts
The Etchells World Championship is in Cowes in September 2016. Anyone interested in being part of the Etchells Fleet should contact Fleet Captain 07768063868. We have several loaner boats available and first class enthusiastic young British Keelboat Academy members to help crew your boat if needed.
The next Solent Championship Regatta is the Bedrock Trophy on the 20/21 June, but before then some of the fleet are training at weekends and sailing in the CCYC keel boat regattas please contact myself or David Bedford for more details so we can anticipate potential numbers.