Etchells Northern Championships at Royal Mersey Yacht Club

Etchells UK Northern Championships © Paul Flower

Over the weekend 28th and 29th July the Etchells Northern Championships were hosted by the Royal Mersey Yacht Club sailing off Rock Ferry with the Liverpool waterfront back drop. Impulse skippered by Dick Cowen took the honours. Throughout the weekend strong westerly winds prevailed with some shifts on the Rock Ferry shore side leading to variable approaches to the windward mark.

Saturday

Race 1 saw a long southerly reach up river with Faldetta taking the lead having taken a shore course out of the tide. This was followed by an energetic reach across river to Liverpool, where boat positions constantly changed with all boats in close proximity. Impulse determined to fly the spinnaker on both legs eventually pulled clear. Faldetta left her spinnaker drop to the last minute and paid the penalty rounding with the spinnaker in the air. Disco Volante showed good upwind speed to pass Faldetta up the next beat to take the second slot. Impulse held onto to first place closely followed by Disco and Faldetta.

Race 2 - A slight swing in wind direction resulted in creating a running start which led to all the fleet reaching the leeward mark together, but it was Faldetta who emerged from the battle first and chased closely by Disco and Invader. Impulse continued to fly the spinnaker as often as possible but this time the close reach in a squal at the leeward mark sent her the wrong side dropping to 5th. The wind for the final beat gusted upwards of 30knots with Faldetta holding on to a deserved win and being the over night leader.

Sunday

Race 3 - In slightly stronger winds, the race began on another running start; all boats hoisted their spinnakers as soon as they crossed the start line, which meant they again all arrived tightly packed together at the first mark but Disco kept inside at the mark and took the lead. Up the beat the fleet split direction but the close positioning was maintained throughout the race. Shifting winds at the Rock Ferry shore saw Impulse finish first just ahead of Invader and Pointless. The whole fleet crossed the line within a minute of each other

Race 4 saw Impulse again using the spinnaker to best advantage to take the early lead chased by Disco showing great consistency over the weekend. The wind gusting again towards 30 knots provided excellent sailing conditions utilising the full width of the river. Invader crept into third place at the finish line closely followed by Pointless.

Overall Results:

1st Impulse
2nd Disco Volante
3rd Invader
4th Faldetta
5th Pointless
6th Atlanta's Gold