worldsadmin – Brisbane Etchells

The 2026 Noel Paterson Corithian Cup Wrap Up

The RQ Etchells fleet hosted the second edition of the Noel Paterson Corithian Cup this past weekend and what a spectacular weekend it was, both on and off the water.

We had 16 entries for this year’s edition. Up from Sydney were Jason Antill and his crew on Flirtation (Northern Havoc) and the Minters with Crews Control, while up from Southport were Pegasus (Stephen Broadbent), Sneaky Ninja (Tomoko Nakanishi) and Gusto (Angus Jackson). The gas prices must be biting on the CG as two of them elected to sail up from Hollywell – on the nose all the way apparently. That’s one way to practice your tacking!

Friday’s racing was conducted in an idyllic 10 kt northerly.

Race 1 honours went to Flirtation comfortably ahead of Waterloo Too (Noel Paterson) and TAG (Todd Anderson). Mama Says: Nothing Good Happens After Midnight (NGHAM) (Brad Ginnivan) result wasn’t helped by a DQS settled in the room after a P/S cross incident.

Race 2 saw The Saint (Dave Smith) take the gun after leading all the way around the track. Crews Control were second tied with NGHAM. Racing doesn’t come any closer than that!!!

Race 3 saw Rapscallion (Dave Healey) led from start to finish to take the final gun of the day with TAG back in second for their second podium of the day and Waterloo also grabbing their second podium of the day in 3rd.

With racing so close, if you could get away at the front, you got richer while everyone else was fighting it out for clear air and clean lanes.

The day rounded out with beers and Chris’s famous BBQ chicken wings back on the dock.

Saturday was an early start (0900) in order to be back in time for the afternoons ‘long lunch’. The forecast was for a light westerly/southerly before filling to a moderate southerly around lunch time, but Huey had other ideas and it was already 12 kts and building by the time we are on the course. It was a solid 15 and puffing up to 17 by the start.

TAG won race 4 for their first bullet of the series – 4 races 4 winners. Flirtation were back on form after an 11^th and 6^th in races 2 and 3 to grab 2^nd ahead of Pegasus.

The final race of the day saw Flirtation grab their second bullet of the series followed by NGHAM and TAG in 3^rd.

The solid breeze meant we were all back in plenty of time to get scrubbed up for the seafood ‘long lunch’ which by some accounts lived up to the name. With close to 100 participants it was an example of the wonderful spirit and camaraderie that exists in the Brisbane Etchells fleet.

Aside from the mid regatta race presentations, there was an enlightening Q&A with club stalwarts Vaughan Prentice and Chris Anderson about their sailing careers including sailing on the Black Jack 100 super maxi programme. The afternoon rounded out* with the presentation of the fleets Pick of the Year trophy awarded to someone who has provided an outstanding contribution to the fleet on or off the water. This year’s recipient was our Fleet Captain Brad Ginnivan who has done a great job for the fleet this including the organisation of this year’s Corithian Cup regatta.

*it seems the afternoon became evening for some once the rum squall came through!!

Sunday was a slightly more civilised start time of 1100 which allowed for the setting of a new record of the most sailors on an Etchells – 48!! Thanks to Helen for allowing Athena to be put to this test.

The 1100 start did prove to be a challenge for the Crews Control crew who hadn’t been sighted before most of the others had left the dock. It seems they were caught in the rum squall the previous evening!

The light and dying westerly filled into a very pleasant and shifty 12 kt sou’easter on our way out to the line.

Race 6 saw TAG grab top spot ahead of Flirtation with NGHAM in 3^rd and The Saint 4^th. This mirrored the overall positions on the table.

Going into the last race (baring any major issues) it looked like it would be TAG and Flirtation battling for top honours, NGHAM and the Saint for 3^rd.Waterloo Too and Rapscallion were tied for 5^th and with Crews Control just a few points back all hoping for things to go their way in order to sneak into 3^rd.

As you can imaging with was all on at the start. TAG was a fraction early at the pin and had to restart and subsequently fouled Rapscallion resulting in having to do a pirouette, Flirtation, The Saint and Crews Control all got away to good starts and headed left while NGHAM, Rapscallion and Waterloo Too were all back in the pack trying to find clear lanes.
In the shifty conditions, places see-sawed but by the top the final time Flirtation had a narrow lead from Crews Control and The Saint. The fleet had well and truly compressed by the final layline and Waterloo Too and NGHAM managed to find a gap and rounded just behind the leaders.

With a strong tidal flow running down the course Rapscallion were caught out under the fleet and mark and had to gybe out, and to put the final nail in their coffin for the day, hit the top mark. Waterloo Too had managed to get up to 4^th but dropped 2 places on the final run to Pegasus and Knot Easy putting an end to their bid for a podium.

NGHAM and TAG were not able to recover from their mid fleet positions to challenge the leaders either.

Flirtation took their 3^rd bullet of the series ahead of Crews Control and The Saint.

This saw them crowned winners for the series with a 5 point gap back to TAG and The Saint a further 6 back in 3^rd. Congratulations to all.

After another weekend abandoned everyone was rearing to go this week. There were 5 boasts in the water before 10.15!! VC Todd and the TAG crew hit the water for the first time this year, giving us 9 boats on the race course. With Brad out of town, it was a Miller family affair with son Mitch taking the helm of NGHAM nad son in law (to be) on the bow, and by all accounts it was all still happy families afterwards.

And after the Skiffie Lunch on Friday there was a few sore heads and lunch bar takings were down slightly as evidenced by this shot!!

For race 1 the breeze settled in from the SE at 14-15kts with a strong outgoing tide. Those that went right off the start prevailed with W2 having a comfortable lead at the top. Athena was having a blinder and was second around followed by a tight bunch that included Happy Hour, TAG, The Project and The Saint.

On the hoist Happy Hour lost their spinnaker halyard so headed back to the harbour to retrieve it. By the bottom W2 was gone and not to be seen for the rest of the race, Athena had a good run and held on to their second position at the bottom followed by TAG, The Project, The Saint and NGHAM. Bring up the rear were Rapscallion and Knot Easy.

On the beat those that could went right while the back markers fed of the scraps on the left. By the top Athena were narrowly holding second from TAG and NGHAM.

By the finish W2 had an easy win, NGHAM and TAG had run down Athena to take 2^nd and 3^rd respectively as Athena took a well deserved 4^th though Helen is still have nightmares about the one that got away!!

Race 2 started in similar conditions with the leading boats going right. Happy Hour made it back in time for the start after sending Lee aloft at the boat harbour in order to retrieve the errant spinnaker halyard. Rapscallion misjudged the pin and had to gybe out and cross behind the fleet on port.

Once again W2 had a comfortable lead at the top followed by The Saint, NGHAM, and TAG. These 4 had a decent margin over Rapscallion, The Project, Athena and Knot Easy who misjudged a port cross with Athena near the top and had to do a pirouette.

Being another year older as I write this, my memory isn’t what it was and I don’t remember much more about the race other than W2 took another well earned bullet. The Saint took a deserving second and Mitch, getting the hang of steering an Etchells had NGHAM finish a creditable third just piping TAG by 3 seconds.

No doubt about Boat of the Day honours – Waterloo Too.

This author accepts no responsibilities for any inaccuracies, distortions of the truth or outright lies.)

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the International Etchells Class Association, Brisbane Fleet Inc. will be held in the Auditorium at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Manly, on Saturday 29^rd July 2023 at 11.00 am

Please find attached the Agenda, Nomination Form and Proxy.

AGM Agenda 2023

Nomination Form Brisbane Fleet 2023

Proxy Form 2023

Seeking “Expressions of Interest” to campaign an Etchells in the 22/23 season.

Nominate your Entry Here

Entries close Saturday Aug 13th

Our loaner boat program, starts in August 2022 in the lead up to the 22-23 season, will have boats available to those wanting to put a club racing program together. There is a huge upswing of female participation in sailing at RQ and combined clubs, Brisbane Etchells would like to nurture and create further opportunities for women, as skippers of their own Etchells program or crewing in a mixed team.

Our Objective

Our primary objective is to get more people out racing Etchells on a regular basis throughout the club season and provide accessible opportunities to learn to race in what we consider to be the best one-design class in world.

How it will Work

We use the 2022-2023 season as a trial of this program.
The Etchells Fleet committee are reaching out to possible boat owners with available boats to ask if they are interested in chartering their boat for the season. We have a few already available and are hoping to add more in the coming weeks.
Pending submissions, we would like to have at least two (2) female teams or mixed crews with a female skipper, if we manage to get more boats available then we would open it to both male and female nominations.
The Etchells fleet committee (in collaboration with the boat owners) then select suitable skippers from the nominations:
- Preference would be given to experienced sailors, who would like to extend their skills into one design racing. They may be active in the RQ Elliot program or keelboat racing programs.
- We welcome all nominations, especially those who are keen to grow their knowledge, commit to weekly racing, have fun and are willing to learn.

TRAINING

We don’t want to just throw participants in the program in the deep end, we will do our best to provide training seasons, at least every fortnight from our pool of existing and ‘semi-retired’ skippers to get up to speed with all things Etchells and one-design racing – building confidence and knowledge is what it is all about.

Key members of the Etchells fleet will provide fortnightly Saturday morning training (before club racing starts) where possible to the new teams to get them confident with sailing and racing Etchells.

Conditions of Program Participants

There is an expectation that a team will:

Commit to racing in at least 70-80% of RQ season point club races.
Respect and value the Etchells they have chartered as though they own it.
Sail with a safety-first approach in compliance with the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS).
Respect the Royal Queensland and Brisbane Etchells Fleet volunteers, we all do this because we love the sport.
Work closing with the Etchells Fleet committee throughout the trial.
Skippers and Crew must become financial members RQYS and the Australian Etchells Association and have a valid Australian Sailing number.
The intention is that program participants are supported by the Etchells Fleet, but they still need to ‘carry their own bags’ so to speak, being responsible for organising your crew and getting your boat on the water each week. We will do our best to help you get crew if you are having difficulty
Have fun and enjoy the season.

What does it Cost?

We trying to keep this trial as simple as possible from a financial perspective, whilst keeping the costs down, whilst ensuring the owner’s are covered for their generosity to the program.

Your investment:

$1800/boat for the season, paid directly to the boat owner + general running repairs throughout the season are to be covered by the loanee. You will also need to provide your own compass and personal safety requirements.
Your boat’s entry into the RQ season points and/or additional regatta entry fees such as the Brisbane Fleet Championships or State Championships should you choose to enter.

The Brisbane Etchells Fleet will also contribute up to $1500/loaner boat to ensure Category 7 safety compliance and to get the boat base level race ready.

(The $1800 fee helps cover yearly insurance costs (Boat Owner must have Third Party Personal and Property Liability Insurance cover of a minimum $10,000,000 with racing cover) and a small contribution to hardstand costs. Note that this obviously doesn’t cover all the costs of owning an Etchells and keeping it on the hardstand, but it does help reduce the ongoing costs for an owner)

Nominate your Entry Here

To find out more please don’t hesitate to call Tony Di Betta (the Fleet Captain) on 0401 605 110.

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Please find attached the Agenda, Nomination Form and Proxy.

AGM Agenda 2022

Nomination Form Brisbane Fleet 2022

Proxy Form 2022

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Last weekend saw RQYS host the inaugural Waterloo Cup for Etchells. This regatta was put together at the last minute after the Mooloolaba Winter Nationals were cancelled due to an unsafe bar (river – not drinking establishment 😊) and to provide an additional regatta for the southerners that came up for the Southport Regatta (that doubled as the Winter Nationals) several weeks earlier. Many thanks go to the club and Brisbane Fleet committee for arranging this regatta at short notice.

We had a fleet of 14 entered, only for our fleet captain Jason Hawkins to withdraw on the first morning due to an injury to a crew member. We had 7 Etchells make the trip from down south with Wayne Kirby from the Southport joining 6 of the local fleet.

Though only small in numbers there was some quality with 3 Etchells world champions represented including Martin Hill and his crew of local Olympic gold medallist Mat Belcher and Julian Plant who won the Worlds held here in Brisbane in 2018.

Saturday saw 3 races completed in 10-15 kt westerlies on a course east of Green Island. Considering the reputation of westerlies the conditions were fairly stable and provided some good and close racing. Race 1 went to Lisa Rose, our own Todd Anderson on TAG grabbed the second and Cameron Miles on Tango won race 3.

Martin Hill on Lisa Rose was the overnight leader with a 1 point lead over TAG. A point further back was Tango. Also in the mix was Peter McNeill on Lucy.

The un-Queensland like temperatures with a wind chill in the low teens made for a very long and cold beat home at the end of the day. A hot shower and a great BBQ put on by our resident fleet chef Chris Nezmah soon warmed everyone up.

Sunday dawned overcast with a freezing 15 kt westerly blowing through the RQ grounds. The wind chill prompting comments along the lines of “if I wanted to sail in these temperatures I’d live in Hobart!”

With the race committee not receptive to a minimum sailing temperature we all set off for an 11am start. I can assure you it was no warmer on the race course with most sailors wearing their entire kit including beanies in an effort to keep warm.

In Race 4TAG got their 2^nd race win of the series with Lucy and Lisa Rose grabbing 2nd and 3^rd. Tango was subsequently DSQed after an incident with Lisa Rose

Race 5 saw the breeze drop to about 10 kts and the sun come out. This made conditions a lot more palatable, which was just as well, as it would have been a tough ask to stay out for 3 races in the earlier temperatures and wind strength. Lisa Rose grabbed this win with Tango second and TAG 3^rd. The regatta’s was anyone’s at this stage.

Going into the final race Lisa Rose and TAG were tied on equal points after 1 drop. Lucy was 4 points further back and Tango was right in the mix as well. It was all on.

Noel Paterson on Waterloo Too led the fleet for the first lap with TAG close on his heels with Lisa Rose and Lucy in hard pursuit. Todd got Patto through at the bottom to clear out for a comfortable win with Lisa Rose grabbing third. A protest against Lucy by Martin saw them DSQed for this race.

Once the protests were all settled TAG came away the winner by 2 points form Lisa Rose with Lucy grabbing the final podium spot. Congratulations to Todd Anderson, Curtis Skinner and Lucas Down on a great result.

The day rounded out with Chris’s famous BBQ chicken wings and prizegiving at the Etchells Hardstand.

We would like to thank Guy and the other race committee and mark boat volunteers who without their support the regatta would not have been possible.

Kevin Molen.

For the 2021/22 Season, the Brisbane Etchells Fleet launched a ‘loan a boat’ program to not just grow the local fleet, but specially targeted to encourage more women to the join the class and experience what the best one-design sailing class has to offer!

We welcomed Helen Wood as skipper in September last year and got to work training her, her crew and readying the boat for the year ahead. What a fantastic season, she was just a superstar and such a valued member of our weekly fleet, thank you Helen!

We especially thank Dan Cassell for the generous use of his boat ‘Etchellence’ throughout the season!

Here is Helen’s experience of the season.

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Helen Wood, Skipper of Etchellence

I was lucky enough to be selected for Brisbane Etchells’ ‘Loan a Boat’ Program for the 21/22 season, which should really be rebranded ‘Etchells Fleet Fast Track Program’, as I’ve got to focus on sailing skills and technique every Saturday, immersed in a community with a shared passion for sailing and skills to be endlessly observed in a one design fleet.

The Etchells Class has it all. It attracts the most skilled and seasoned sailors, and the allure of the class has always interested me. When the opportunity to join the ‘Loan a Boat’ Program came up, I leapt at the application – although unsure of what I would achieve from it.

And now at the end of the season, I can certainly say it surpassed my expectations, and has left me anticipating the next one. I’ve learnt far more than I expected, on so many levels. It’s the type of environment I was looking for – to sail, race, improve, and have a good laugh. Sailing every Saturday on Moreton Bay is a pleasure in itself (if you can dodge the sandbars).

For regular sailors on the bay, you may have forgotten the natural asset that you sail on. On a blue-sky day, it provided the perfect antidote for a stressful week. And in questionable weather, it reminded me that sailing is all about the conditions, which fundamentally requires skills to read and adapt. Sailors who know the bay – tides, wind conditions, westerlies – are already miles ahead when they approach the start line.

So boat handling is secondary to reading the conditions… A quirk of sailing an Etchells is the lack of engine, so tacking out of Manly harbour, and then navigating the leads, was a good warm up for the afternoon ahead, and the crew warmed up to my helming style.

Etchells are a beautiful boat to sail, easily balanced (I think due to hull shape), although not a lot of sail reduction options when the Summer storms pick up. They require technique and skill to manage the 2800 controls, strictly not that many, but many more than most boats! When you think you are on top of them all, another option surfaces!! Super skilled sailors make sail trim look effortless, but let me tell you, many options makes for more choices, and more double guessing!!! There has been frustrations during the season, some sails just don’t always work the way you want, but that’s life.

Sailing is ultimately teamwork. Whilst I’ve been getting experience helming, racing and navigating all the boats on the start mark, racing rules- its ultimately a team sport, where everyone has a stake in the outcome. I’ve introduced 4 new people to the club, 2 to sailing, and sharing the enjoyment has been a bonus of the program too.

The Brisbane Etchells fleet is a community. A group of sailors who have a range of skill levels, but all are very competitive by nature. Those with decades of experience openly shared their advice with me, and then drip fed their gems of wisdom after each race day. I felt welcomed into the group, in which the BBQ & beer post race wind downs make the Etchells fleet pretty tight.

It’s also because the boats all live together in Etchells Avenue, with easy access to the hoist, where you rig, and you can borrow a missing tool from your neighbour – or Tony’s mobile chandlery. There is also Kevin’s weekly roundup to find out what happened at the front of the fleet.

Thanks to the many, many Etchells fleet crew that have helped me out this season – especially Jason and Tony – for letting me float, sail, and fly. If an opportunity comes up like the Loan A Boat for the Season – Jump at it!

Helen

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We once again thank Helen and her crew for a fantastic season and we look forward to seeing what the future brings! A huge thank you too Tony Di Betta for all the boat work throughout the season, without his drive and obsession this would not have been possible, Etchellence is in great shape.

If you would like to know more about this program for 22/23 season please don’t hesitate to contact me on 0407 160 900. We hope to continue the program and introduce more sailors to Etchells.

Jason Hawkins
Brisbane Etchells Fleet Captain

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The Final Showdown – Race Review Sat 9 Apr

by Kevin Molen

It came down to the final day of racing to determine this year’s squadron championship winner with Patto and Heals tied on points going into the final day of racing. The day started with drama. BBQ Chef extraordinaire Chris tested covid positive on Saturday morning meaning Jason and Jim had to take on BBQ duties for the pre race sausage sizzle. Of even more concern was Patto’s bowman Will calling in positive as well, leaving Patto with a last minute scramble to find a replacement. Liam – formally of The Saint stepped up. Just to add a bit more drama Patto felt the need to take a covid test before coming down to the club leaving a nervous wait for his crew. He duly showed and the battle was on.

We only had 4 entries for the day. Due to Chris’ withdrawal, Jason took the helm of Chaos Theory with Tony being promoted to the bow. Dave Smith joined Helen on Etchellence for the day. The forecast was for anything between 13 and 20 knots from the south east which made the boat set up an interesting dilemma.
As I mentioned Rapscallion and Waterloo Too were tied on points going into these final two races. They also had an identical score card meaning that if they were tied at the end of the day the championship would be determined by a countback based on who won the last race – game on!!!

Race one started in about 14-16 knots with Waterloo Too at the boat and Rapscallion a little further down the line. They both hit the line at pace and it didn’t take long for both Chaos and Etchellence to be squeezed between them and tack off to the right while they continued out to the left. Neither obtained an advantage but Rapscallion blinked first tacking and crossing behind to avoid being trapped on the layline. Patto wasn’t going to give anything away and after a few short tacks Rapscallion had to settle in on his hip for the long port tack drag to the top. Patto had a comfortable 4 length lead at the top. With the left heavily favoured they established a big lead ov erChaos and Etchellence. Rapscallion gained a length or so on the run but not enough to make a difference by the bottom.

Around the bottom and with Patto protecting the left Heals wasn’t left with many options. Bring on the tacking duel!!! After ½ a dozen or so tacks Rapscallion had halved the gap down to less than two lengths at which point Waterloo Too decided to let Rapscallion go left while they went for straight line speed out to the right. Much to Rapscallion’s dismay Waterloo got a small right hand shift to have a comfortable margin at the final turn. Meanwhile Chaos and Etchellence were also having a great battle with Chaos having to do a pirouette after an P vs S incident halfway up the beat. They grabbed 3^rd back on the run to finish just ahead of Etchellence. Meanwhile Waterloo Too had a comfortable win about 15 secs ahead of Rapscallion – 1 nil to Patto!

Race 2. Chaos retired after the first race – apparently sailing at the pointy end broke Tony, leaving just three in the final showdown. As long Etchellence didn’t get between the other two the title was going to who ever beat the other. It was all on. With a few minute to go Dave went on the attack hunting Patto pushing him away form the line. The clock didn’t matter for this start. Dave led back to the line with Patto on his hip – both about 20 seconds late. Meanwhile Helen and her crew misjudged the time but still had a good start.

Halfway up the beat Etchellence had the lead while Rapscallion and Waterloo Too were battling it out. Rapscallion had crossed Waterloo and had them pinned to leeward for a long beat to the top in a reverse of the first race. Rapscallion managed to tack just in front of Etchellence on the starboard layline with Waterloo tacking behind Helen to round in 3^rd. With Rapscallion trying to keep their wind clear Etchellence pulled alongside, and they fought for the inside position for the bottom mark. Patto saw this as a chance to go for a clean rounding of the left-hand gate. Rapscallion rounded ½ a length before Waterloo Too with Etchellence right on their transom. This created a split between the two title contenders. They came together ¾ the way up the final beat of the season. Rapscallion slam dunk forcing Waterloo Too back to the right. With Waterloo Too on the starboard layline Rapscallion went for the tight lee bow as they couldn’t cross but as Waterloo rolled over them they couldn’t lay the mark while Waterloo Too shot the mark to have a 3-4 length lead at the top. If it stays like this its 2-0 to Patto.

But as in any good Etchells race there was still drama left in this one. It didn’t take long for Rapscallion to pull alongside on the run and at one point was even a length ahead. Coming into the gate mark for the final gybe to the finish it was neck and neck. 50 metres to go and the title was still on the line! 25 metres to go and it was still neck and neck and a slight pin end bias favouring Patto. At this point Rapscallion caught a couple of waves to surge ahead to get the gun by a second and take out the championship. Though the RC announced the result over the radio Dave wasn’t prepared to believe it until he saw it in writing. What a great finish to the season. Helen and Etchellence crossed not far behind to grab a well-deserved podium.

The day rounded out with drinks at the hardstand followed by some celebratory and commissary drinks back at the bar.

It was a frustrating season with a larger than usual number of races lost to the weather, but it was great to welcome 3 new crews to the fleet this year. They all improved significantly as the season went on and we all look forward to an even more competitive fleet next season.

A big thanks goes to Jason, Chris and Tony who put a lot into the fleet this season and to Dave Smith who put in a number of hours working and sailing with some of the new commers to help them get up to speed. Thanks guys.
Well, that’s a rap for 21/22. See you all next season – if not before.

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Thanks for a great weekend!

Many thanks to all our valued fleet for a fantastic weekend at the Brisbane Etchells Fleet Championship last week. Congratulations to Peter Conde, Brian Hillier and Miles Baron-Hay for the win on Encore! David Healey, Kevin Molen and Ian Miller on Rapscallion took 2nd and 3rd place went to Vaughan Prentice, Lachlan Prentice and Josh Torpy on ‘Stand In Line’. Congratulations!

Thanks also goes to the volunteers and RQ sailing management team for delivering a fabulous event, especially on the outside Green Island course. It has been several years since we have been able to race outside and I loved being back out there, especially the tight finishes! Sooo good! It’s why we race Etchells.

Special mention also goes to our esteemed fleet treasurer and celebrity chef Chris Nezmah who has been awarded this year’s “Pick of the Year” for his valued contribution over the years. He is a thoroughly deserving recipient of the “Pick”, a tradition that started in the 1980s! Well done!

Kevin has written a blow-by-blow account of the weekends racing below but I would also like to thank not just the place getters, but all those who participated. There were some great battles mid and at the back of the fleet with very tight racing – sometimes only seconds separating competitors. Believe me, Etchells can be brutal on the ego, but the learning experiences make us all better sailors, armed with knowledge that can be shared in the broader sailing community for years to come. My advice would be to be patient and keep at it, the results will come.

We have one weekend of racing left and a nice rib-fillet left over in cold storage, so I look forward to seeing everyone on April 9th to close out the season.

Cheers
Jason Hawkins
Brisbane Fleet Captain

Brisbane Fleet Championship March 26-27 2022

The gods were finally smiling over the fleet with a forecast of 5-15 kts for the weekend leading up to the 2022 Fleet Championship. We had 14 entries which was great including Wayne Kirby and his crew from Southport on Emotional Rescue. Cam Price was down from Gladstone and a few long time Etchellers in Vaughan Prentice, Peter Conde and Barry Cuneo came out of the woodwork for the weekend.

The plan was for racing outside Green Island for the first time in a number of years with a provision to move inside if the conditions proved unfavourable. Sailing outside provides a different challenge including dealing with slop, bigger waves and a greater tidal influence. This was going to present some interesting sailing – especially for some of the newer fleet members who hadn’t had the opportunity to sail in these waters previously.

Race one started in a pleasant 7-8 knots from the south east. Five minutes after the start a message over the radio by race control announced that the race was been stopped and was to be restarted due to a timing issue that impacted some crews during the starting period, much to the displeasure of a certain crew member! Take 2 – The leading boats all went left off the line. Rapscallion was first to the top and led start to finish with Peter Conde in Encore 2^nd and Barry Cuneo grabbing 3^rd.

The left was paying all day with Rapscallion going hard left in race 2 and having a handy lead at the top that wasn’t challenged. Encore was again 2^nd with Bait and Switch 3^rd.

Race 3 saw the breeze up to 10 -12 knots. The left continued to pay with the breeze ending up in the north east by the end of the day. Encore grabbed 1^st with Vaughan on Stand in Line 2^nd and a well deserved 3^rd to Jason and the Knot Easy team who had a last minute crew substitution earlier in the day due to a overnight covid case. Dave Healy’s winning run came to an end with a 9^th.

Considering the weather around, (Moreton Is spent much of the day in rain and some significant rain squalls moved along the mainland coast) we were very lucky to avoid the rain and have such consistent and stable conditions.

Post racing, Chris Nezmah (Knot Easy) with support from Tony and the Chaos Theory crew put on a great BBQ. Thanks guys. It’s much appreciated.

Sunday’s forecast looked a little dodgy with concerns as to whether the wind would fill in. The fleet required a tow out to the start and we spent a hour waiting for it to come in before settling in from the east at 7-10 kts.
Race 4 saw some close racing with Stand in Line first around, not to be headed. Encore grabbed 2^nd again with Bait and Switch grabbing another 3^rd. Unfortunately, Waterloo Too broke their jib halyard and had to sit out the remainder of the racing from the aft deck of John Warlow’s bay cruiser.

Race 5 saw a number of general recalls – first the U flag and followed by the angry (black) flag. This didn’t seem to fix the issue. It was finally resolved after Barry moved his Palm Beach away from the start line where it had ended up due to number of line resets due to the shifting wind. Rapscallion continue their good form to lead around the top followed by Stand in Line, TAG and Encore. It was close racing all around the track with Encore, Rapscallion and TAG crossing the finish line abreast. Encore was awarded 1^st, TAG 2^nd and Rapscallion 3^rd.

The final Race of the series got under way in a softening easterly. Once again Rapscallion was 1^st around the top mark followed the ever present Encore and TAG. TAG led around the top mark the final time followed by Rapscallion for the final sprint to the finish. From 3^rd place Encore picked up a private puff to grab a handy lead with TAG and Rapscallion crossing neck and neck with TAG being awarded 2^nd.

The day wrapped up with Chris’ famous chicken wings and the presentation at the hand stand. Overall, the Encore crew of Peter, Brian and Myles deservedly took out the championship with just 7 points and a drop of a 2nd. Congratulations guys. Rapscallion with David, Ian and Kevin had a very good regatta to be 2^ndjust two points ahead of Stand in Line (Vaughan, Lachlan and Josh)

The final presentation of the day was for the ‘Pick of the Year’ award which goes to a fleet member who has made an outstanding contribution to the fleet. This year it went to a deserving Chris Nezmah for his BBQ and culinary skills and keeping the engine room running as Fleet Treasurer. Congratulations Chris and keep up the good work.

Thanks to the sponsors including North Sails (Vaughan) and Gill (Scotty) and to all the work by Jason, Tony and other fleet members to get this event across the line. Also, a round of thanks the RC and volunteers who without their support we wouldn’t have had such a successful weekend.

And finally, a thanks to all the Etchells crews who supported the event. This helps keep the fleet strong and I hope that we continue to get this level of support next season.

Kevin Molen

Seeking “Expressions of Interest” to campaign an Etchells in the 21/22 season.

Nominate your Entry Here

Entries close Saturday July 31st

Our trial loaner boat program, starting in August 2021 in the lead up to the 21-22 season, will have boats available to those wanting to put a club racing program together. There is a huge upswing of female participation in sailing at RQ and combined clubs, Brisbane Etchells would like to nurture and create further opportunities for women, as skippers of their own Etchells program or crewing in a mixed team.