Etchells World Championship at San Francisco Yacht Club - Day 1
by Leslie Richter 27 Sep 2017 08:01 BST
26-30 September 2017
The first day of racing for the 51 International Etchells teams got off to a slow start with a 2.5 hour postponement on glassy water.
When race one finally began at about 2:30pm, the wind had built to a consistent 8 – 10 kts. By the second race, the breeze freshened slightly to 14 - 15 kts. "The race committee, led by PRO Jeff Zarwell, did a great job completing two races in a short time window, getting everyone back to the dock before sunset," said race co-chair Steve Fentress, and seconded by many racers.
"It was mayhem on the starting line because everyone is so good," said Dirk Kneulman (BER), one of the three Etchells boat builders, and a previous world champion. "We had a bad first start but clawed our way back to finish in 8th. We had a great start in the second race, found a clean lane and were lucky to be the first boat to the windward mark." Kneulman's and his team of Grant Simmer and Mark Strube hung on to win the race and are standing in first place after day one. They lead Robert Elliott (GBR) and his team of Stuart Childerley and Tom Forrester-Coles by two points.
"This is the most competitive Etchells Worlds we've been to," said Steve Benjamin (USA). "It's just getting harder and harder." Benjamin placed a disappointing 33rd in the first race and 3rd in the second race to finish the day in 16th place.
The top Corinthian team, sitting in sixth place overall after day one is Senet Bischoff with his team of Clay Bischoff and Ben Kinney.
Racing continues tomorrow through Saturday with a total of nine races scheduled. If seven or more races are sailed there will be one throw out.
Results after Day 1: (top ten)
1. Dirk Kneulman, BER 1454, RCYC, 8, 1; 9pts
2. Robert Elliott, GBR 1439, RYS, 9, 2; 11pts
3. Marty Kaye, HKG 1428, na, 4, 11; 15pts
4. James Badenach, HKG 1285, RHKYC, 1, 15; 16pts
5. Mark Thornburrow, HKG 1406, 10, 6; 16pts
6. Senet Bischoff, USA 1349, NYYC, 6, 13; 19pts
7. Graeme Taylor, AUS 947, Morningtown YC, 15, 5; 20pts
8. Marvin Beckman, USA 1232, Houston YC, 3, 18; 21pts
9. Ante Razmilovic, GBR, 7, 19; 26pts
10. Iain Murray, AUS, RSYS, 17, 9; 26pts
For complete regatta information and results, please see the event website at 2017.etchellsworlds.org
Etchells Worlds get underway in San Francisco (from Nic Douglass, Adventures of a Sailor Girl)
Yesterday marked the official start of the Etchells Worlds for 2017 from the San Francisco Yacht Club with a practice race.
Most of the 51 boat fleet were on the start line to check out the conditions ahead of the first two races today, but a large proportion pulled out after the first full lap of the course.
Before the boats started making their tactical calls to head home early the places were 947 - Magpie, 1404 - Lifted, 1429 - Viva, 1249 - Thrash, 1425 - Tquila, 1177 - Happy Dance, 1119 - Northern Havoc.
Live start coverage
Nic Douglass is providing live coverage where possible at the Etchells Worlds from the Aussie team coach boat that she is on. Here is the coverage from the start of the practice race, with mark rounding updates in the comments which will continue today. Please bear in mind that restrictions from the race committee require staying behind the start line, and on the outside of the course.
Heading out to the start on day "zero"
For some fun, here is the Magpie team heading out to the start line on day "zero".
For more adventures during the Etchells Worlds, head straight to the Sailor Girl's social channels, @sailorgirlHQ on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. She will be live on Facebook daily from on the water.
You can also head to www.nicdouglass.org/etchells2017 to see the coverage so far, including training over the past week. This blog will be updated daily.