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

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

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.