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Etchells Southern Area Championship 2024 at Royal Thames Yacht Club

by Ted Blowers 12 Jul 2024 11:45 BST 6-7 July 2024
Etchells Southern Area Championship © Mark Wayte Smith

Saturday left us fully rigged and fully kitted but with no sailing unfortunately, a last minute decision cancelled racing for the day due to the high winds and turning tide. In the end a good decision by Royal Thames Yacht Club PRO, Phil Hagen and his team, to avoid a tricky sea state in the strong breeze.

The fleet waited out the strong breeze and tricky tides at the social on the Saturday evening hosted by the Island Sailing Club, putting on a great three course meal for the fleet!

The forecast on Sunday was much more reliable, which allowed for the fleet to get out on the water in some true Solent style conditions! Wind from the West averaged approximately 22 knots and gusting into the late 20s, the race committee managed to squeeze three races in.

Race 1 saw three of the more experienced teams of No Dramas, freshly back from their Etchells Worlds campaign in Fremantle, with Tango, and Exabyte take the early advantage in the standings to take second and third respectfully.

The tide then turned through race 2 to create some wet and wild conditions on the Solent, forcing all sailors to work overtime in getting through the large swell. Race 2 saw another bullet from No Dramas, and another second place from Tango, but with returning Etchells Veteran, Nick Griffiths, sailing Ada, making up the top three.

With the tide now in full flow, and the breeze being at its most in the the third and final race of the day, team No Dramas absolutely dominated the day to take a third bullet and a very convincing overall win, team Swedish Blue led by Ante Razmilovic managed to get their first podium of the event in second, with team Tango taking third in the last race of the day.

The points across the board were pretty even, with very little separation between the fleet after 3 races, demonstrating yet again just how close and competitive the fleet is.

A huge congratulations to Sumo for placing top youth and top Corinthian boat, the team was made up of Hamish Pimm, Cameron Yates, and Will Oldroyd.

No Dramas, made up of Andrew Lawson, Graham Vials, and Billy Russell took the overall win with their perfect scoreline of three bullets, Tango, sailed by Chris Hampton, Charlie Cumberly, and Sam Haines finished second overall after a good series over three races, with Ante Razmilovic's Swedish Blue, with crew Brian Hammersley, and Mark Lees, taking third overall on countback to Shaun Frohlich's Exabyte in fourth.

The prize-giving and post-racing beers took place in the fantastic Pontoon View bar, located in Cowes Yacht Haven, overlooking the marina and the Etchells parked on the dock.

The Etchells fleet would like to thank both Cowes Yacht Haven, and the Pontoon View for their always excellent hospitality, and to the Royal Thames Yacht Club for running a great regatta in extremely challenging conditions.

We are looking forward to seeing the fleet out at the Island Sailing Club regatta on the 20-21 of July!

Overall Results:

PosBoatSail NoCrewRRRPts
1No Dramas  GBR 1490Andrew Lawson / Graham Vials / Billy Russell1113
2Tango  AUS 1466Chris Hampton / Sam Haines / Charlie Cumbley2237
3Swedish BLUE  GBR 1438Ante Razmilovic / Mark Lees / Brian Hammersley45211
4Exabyte  GBR 1459Shaun Frohlich / Duncan Truswell / Ben Cooper34411
5Ada  GBR 1517Nick Griffiths / Brad McLaughlin / Quentin Bes‑Green73616
6SUMO (Corinthian) (Youth)  GBR 1020Hamish Pimm / Camereon Yates / Will Oldroyd58720
7Alison (Corinthian) (Youth)  GBR 957Harry Cowell / Matt Barrett / Matty Evans / Megan Farrer610521
8Standfast  GBR 1508Simon Patterson / Luke Cross / Jack Wetherell86923
9Mano (Corinthian) (Youth)  GBR 1194Harry Blythe / Sam Barnes‑Thornton / Benedict Brown / Chris Haslam119828
10Shamal (Corinthian) (Youth)  GBR 927Owen Colbern / Charlie Cooper / Max Bradley / Becky Caiger1271130
11Pulse (Corinthian) (Youth)  GBR 782Maisie Harkess / Lia Horne / Elise Fitzgerald / AJ Luxton10111031
12Ariel (Corinthian) (Youth)  GBR 1148Catherine Brooke / George Sellwood / Finlay Oliver / Kate MacAdorey9121233
13Palaver (Corinthian) (Youth)  GBR 1014Corneille LePrince / Felipe Garcia / Max Guiguet‑Belcher / TBCDNCDNCDNC45
14Audrey  GBR 1351Ted Blowers / Paul Blowers / Tom BlowersDNFDNCDNC45

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