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Etchells Bedrock Trophy organised by the Royal Thames Yacht Club

by Jake Hardman 19 Apr 2021 21:02 BST 17-18 April 2021
Etchells Bedrock Trophy 2021 © Andrew Palfrey

The first event of the Cowes Etchells fleet 2021 season was the Bedrock Trophy organised by the Royal Thames Yacht Club held over the weekend of the 17th & 18th April. All competitors were glad for the opportunity to go racing after months of lockdown and no sailing. A strong entry of 14 Etchells meant that there would be some stiff competition for the first event of the season.

Saturday morning dawned sunny but with no wind, meaning a long postponement held on shore until the sea breeze kicked in at about 4pm. Everyone was very grateful to the RTYC race team for giving up their Saturday evening in order for us to go racing. Once we were out there however, the conditions were champagne sailing: 10-15 knots from the SW.

The first race started in the westerly tide with everyone jockeying hard for position on the line before most of the fleet headed to the left side of the course to get the best of the tide. Ante Razmilovic on Swedish Blue managed to get the best of that side and held a nice lead that they only extended from there to take the win.

The wind shifted slightly left for the second race and the slacker tide was taken advantage of by current National Champion James Howells on Gelert with more excitement further down the fleet as five boats all tried to squeeze through a narrow finish line at the same time resulting in some very close racing.

The light was starting to fade as the third race got under way with the breeze starting to drop slightly and tide beginning to turn but once again Swedish Blue lead the way, scoring their second bullet of the day as the fleet headed home after a great evening of racing in the best conditions of the day.

Swedish Blue lead overnight with two bullets and a third, followed by Gelert and J70 World Champion Paul Ward on Man's Best Friend.

Sunday was once again sunny and light with another postponement on shore being put up by the RTYC race committee however with a 2:30pm cut-off time there was no opportunity for the sea breeze to build so there was no change to the overnight standings and Ante Razmilovic's Swedish Blue crewed by Brian Hammersley and James Downer was the winner of the Bedrock Trophy 2021 and also first Corinthian team.

All competitors were grateful to the race team for doing a great job with challenging conditions and are looking forward to the next Cowes Etchells event, the Sir Kenneth Preston Trophy on the 1st-3rd May.

Overall Results:

PosBow NoSail NoYacht NameYacht DesignSkipper / CrewR1R2R3Pts
133  GBR 1333Swedish BLUE (Corinthian)EtchellsAnte Razmilovic / Brian Hammersley / James Downer1315
270  GBR 1470GelertEtchellsJames Howells / Ruairidh Scott / Jamie Lea2147
360  GBR 1460Man's Best FriendEtchellsPaul Ward / Charlie Cumbley / Paul Childs52310
439  GBR 1439Rocketman (Corinthian)EtchellsRob Goddard / Joe Burns / Ed Haynes / Vicky Cowan45615
517  GBR 1417China WightEtchellsNicholas Stagg / Tim Thubron / Matt Reid68216
690  GBR 1490ColinEtchellsDavid Heritage / Will Heritage / Sophie Heritage / David Heritage86519
751  GBR 1351Audrey (Corinthian)EtchellJon Warwick / Will Bedford / Fraser Woodley / Molly Speirs94821
882  GBR 782Pulse (Corinthian)EtchellsJake Hardman / Tiger Tellwright / Alex Smerdon / Hattie Askew77923
959  GBR 1459ExabyteEtchellsShaun Frohlich / David Bedford / Simon Fry3RET725
107  GBR 1407Ice (Corinthian)EtchellsAndrew Cooper / Mike Greville / Patrick Condy1091029
1114  GBR 1014PalavarEtchellsJahavarn Knight / Brandom Morales / Agid Ulutas / Martin Evans12101133
1248  GBR 1148Silver LiningEtchellsMurray Chapples / Ben Palmer1111DNS37
1394  GBR 1194Mano (Corinthian)EtchellsJames Cunnison / Anna Watkins / Will James / Lily ReeceDNSDNSDNS45
1489  GBR 1489PolarisEtchellsStuart Childerley / Andy Hemmings / Ben ChilderleyDNSDNSDNS45

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