What a difference a closing regatta makes… Sailing
W ords: Jenn y C ooper and Ronan C ollins | Photos: Jenn y C ooper
Clockwise from above left: Winners Guy Brearey and Laurence Mead, Freelance; Greg Farrell, Sam Stitt and Mark Thornburrow, Dream On; Greg Kearns and Ronan Collins, No Name
t was early May and the Etchells sailors had completed 49 races including the Class Champs, the Autumn Regatta, the Class Regatta and six class series. With only the Spring Regatta to go and potentially two races left in the Rum Series, the coveted Skip Etchells Trophy was all to play for. The Skip Etchells counts the team’s top six series scores with the Class Champs worth 110 points, the three Club regattas worth 100 points each and the class series 90 each. Going into the last few races and due to the narrow margins at the top of the table it was between 1364, 1339 and 1269. By the statisticians’ calculations and due to the previous results, the winners of the Spring Regatta would go on to win the Skip. Could Frank Van Kempen and Greg Kearns in No Name (HKG 1364) hold off the long-standing rivals of Laurence Mead in Freelance (HKG 1339) and Mark Thornburrow in Dream On (HKG 1269)? The wind gods were not in a good mood for the Spring Regatta, but on the Saturday afternoon, Frank Van Kempen found a lucky breeze and
took the first race of the event. The new boys, without the Class Sec on bow, had a spring in their step… could they possibly hold on? Come Sunday, it was the turn of Thornburrow and Mead to snag a few wins. The provisional results placed Thornburrow ahead of Mead and it looked like he had one hand on the Skip Etchells Trophy. All that would change though a few nights later following a protest hearing, which saw Race 2 omitted. The outcome was 1339 winning the Spring Regatta ahead of 1243 and 1269. Mead sailing Freelance (HKG1339) went on to win the Skip Etchells and secured second place on the overall ladder. Thornburrow in Dream On (HKG 1269) was in second place for the Skip Etchells and third on the ladder. Frank Van Kempen and Greg Kearns in No Name (HKG 1364) were in first place for the ladder and third for the Skip Etchells. For the last races in the Rum Series, it was between the Commodore in Shrub (HKG 912) and Kearns helming 1364 for the final trophy in the cabinet. Again, the breeze in the harbour
Etchells Worlds 2014 – Hong Kong Crews Competing Mark Thornburrow Frank Van Kempen & Greg Kearns Ante Razmilovic John Breen
RX2 No Name Swedish Blue Mind the Bumps
HKG 1269 HKG 1364 HKG 1333 HKG 1344
did not behave as some would have liked as that afternoon it died off and went very light. The fleet only managed to complete one race to conclude the Rum Series and the season. Winners of the last race of the season were Thomas Cheung with Ian Ritchie racing their new boat fresh from Sydney Are We There Yet (HKG 1358), all smiles as they went over the line and took their bullet. Others did not have as much success. Kearns came in 6th place to take the overall Rum Series. Laurence Mead, Guy Breary, David Mead and the rest of their crew (HKG1339) had prevailed in a long season of close racing, ups and downs, swimmers and a few t-bone incidents to win the Skip Etchells. With 10 wins from 42 starts, they were the team to beat all season and are deserved winners! This year’s theme for the prizegiving was JUL/AUG 2014 AHOY! |
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