Etchells 2021 Ice Bucket Championship preview, Cowes 16-17 October
18 Boats entered the Etchells Ice Bucket regatta, sailed in the Solent and run by the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club. Normally this event has 8-10 boats turn up as an end of season sail but the new interest in the class with the 2022 Worlds being in Cowes increased this to 18.
Day 1 saw a light breeze in the morning which led to AP being displayed. AP was dropped at 11 after a 4-5knt westerly filled and the fleet started to leave the doc.
The first race saw newcomer Paul Brotherton sailing onboard Man’s Best Friend with James Fawcett and Mark Asquith take the win. Not a bad way to mark your entry on the class.
However, the leader after 3 races was Jolly Roger sailed by Tom Abrey sailing with his usual crew Matt Reid and Bruno van Dyke they managed to sail a very consistent 1,2,4 making them overnight leaders
Day 2 forecast was for a southerly, wind speeds of 8-10knots only 5 points separated the top 5 boats it was all to play for. David Franks onboard Strait Dealer started the day with a 1st with Grant Gordon’s Louise Racing got a solid 2nd place. 7 points separated the top 5 by the last race and with two of the top 5 being UFD after multiple general recalls Grant Gordon ended up winning the race and also the event.
Full results on Yacht Scoring https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=14468
