Etchells Sidney Doren Memorial Regatta at Biscayne Bay Sailing Club

Top mark rounding at the Sidney Doren Memorial Regatta © Cindy Saunders

Pin end start at the Sidney Doren Memorial Regatta © Cindy Saunders

Trying to crose the fleet at the Sidney Doren Memorial Regatta © Cindy Saunders

The 2nd regatta in the 2017 Etchells Biscayne Bay Series, the Sidney Doren Memorial Regatta was held last weekend in Miami. The weekend racing was dominated by the major cold front that was making headlines throughout the Eastern USA.

Saturday's racing began with warm temperatures in the mid 70's and SSW winds around 15 knots. The balmy weather was soon to change when the cold front came roaring thru south Florida around 1:30 in the afternoon. Commanders Weather service called race PRO Stuart Childerly about 1 pm and advised him to get the boats off the water ASAP as they were expecting 30+ knot winds with higher gusts and thunderstorms in the rapidly approaching cold front.

So on Saturday we only got 1 full race in and a 2nd race was shortened to just 2 legs. The 30+ knot winds and rain came roaring through at about 2pm but all the boats were safely back at their docks by then and further racing was abandoned for the day.

Sunday began with clear sky's and winds about 20 knots at sunrise, but by 9 am the winds were up to 25+ knots out on the bay with gusts in the low 30's.

PRO Childerly wisely called off racing at 9:30 and the beer kegs were tapped early. Later in the afternoon the winds moderated to around 20 knots but by then it was too late to get any further racing in.

Saturday's first race saw Luke Lawrence sailing for absent owner Phil Lotz on USA 1376 Arethusa lead the fleet to the first mark and never give up the lead to finish 1st. Craig Mense on USA 1280 Freedom finished 2nd and Peter Duncan driving USA 926 Raging Rooster was a close 3rd.

Finding the best route around the course was difficult due to huge right shifts (20 degrees or more), and then suddenly shifting back to the original heading. There seemed to be no pattern in the shift timing to follow.

The short 2nd race was led wire to wire by the GRE 1368 Provezza team of Peter Holmberg, Tony Rey and Simon Fry. Provezza nailed the pin end start and never looked back. 2nd Place in race 2 went to Ante Razmilovic on GBR 1438 Sweedish Blue and 3rd place was Steve Benjamin's USA 1228 Terrapin.

When the final results were tallied, the team of Peter Duncan, Jud Smith and Andrew sailing USA 926 Raging Rooster were the event winners, with Ante Razmilovic, Brian Hammersley, and Andrew Mills placing 2nd in Sweedish Blue, and Luke Lawrence, Eric Lawrence, and Alan Kelly placing 3rd in Arethusa.

Peter Duncan, Jud Smith & Andrew Palfry win the Sidney Doren Memorial Regatta - photo © Cindy Saunders

The next event in the 2017 Etchells Biscayne Bay Series is the Florida State Championship set to be held on February 4th and 5th, 2017. VRsport.tv will be on-site with lead presenter, Saskia Clark, repotting on all the action from this incredibly competitive fleet.

Full information on the Etchells racing in Miami can be found on the Etchells Fleet 20 website, www.etchellsfleet20.org.

Overall Results: