Etchells World Championship set for Weymouth in 2016

2012 Etchells Worlds in Sydney © Ingrid Abery / www.ingridabery.com

At the annual Governors’ meeting of the International Etchells Fleet in Sydney on Saturday 18 February, a bid by the UK Etchells class to hold the 2016 World Championship in the UK was accepted and this highly competitive one-design keel boat class will therefore be visiting the UK again, this time at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Centre, for the 2016 World Championships of the class. This follows Etchells World Championships in Italy 2013, New York 2014, Hong Kong 2015 and shows that the class remains in strong health. 75 boats are competing in Sydney this week for the 2012 World Championships, one of the toughest regattas in sailing.

Unlike many other high level race events, big budgets aren't a pre-requisite to win in this strict one-design class; Etchells are fast in all wind conditions and have been one of the most competitive classes on the Solent for nearly 20 years. Regulars at Cowes Week, the UK has held the Worlds three times before, 1996, 2001 and 2007, the latter seeing a win by Olympian Andy Beadsworth sailing with Oscar Strugstad and Simon Fry. Other UK World Champions in the class have been Stuart Childerly (who won it twice) and Adam Gosling.

These 30 foot dry-sailed keel boats are a class where good helming, sail trim, tactics, practice and crew work are rewarded with success. Sails are limited to 6 per year and both new and older boats are competitive. As importantly, the class has a great blend of top-end competitors and Corinthian and family crews, with many competitive boats sailing 4 up (the class rules allow either a 3 or 4 person crew with a maximum weight limit of 285kg's) allowing for all weights and sexes to sail at the front of the fleet. It doesn't matter where you finish in the Etchells fleet there is always great racing to be had! There are currently active fleets in the Solent, on the Mersey and on the Clyde, plus European fleets in Ireland, Holland and Italy.

There is plenty of time for new teams to form and become contenders well before the 2016 Worlds and the class is both friendly and competitive! Along with the RYA Youth program the Solent fleet has just launched an initiative which will see two crews selected to sail fully funded, top-class Etchells in the 2012 season, leading up to a tilt at winning the UK Nationals in September.

Laurence Mead and David Franks organised the bid for the 2016 world championships and are delighted that the UK has been selected to hold the event, commenting "Now the hard work begins; we are delighted that the UK has the opportunity to host the highly competitive Etchells Worlds again, bringing together sailors from around the world to compete at one of the UK's best sailing venues in one of the world’s best keelboats, and we are pleased to announce that we will be using the expertise of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, home of the 2012 Olympics, to help organise the event. It's not an easy title to win but it's well worth the effort!"

Set for the summer of 2016, the waters around Weymouth provide the perfect location with a regular sea breeze and little tide in the bay, producing ideal championship sailing conditions, and we can expect that some of the best sailors in the world, along with the keenest amateurs, will compete for one of the most prestigious prizes in sailing.

For further information, imagery, etc, please email Rob Goddard, Etchells Cowes Fleet Development Officer at and see www.etchellsukfleet.co.uk