UK Etchells 2014 Review
by Rob Goddard 11 Nov 2014 17:42 GMT
15 November 2014
Etchells Invitational Cup day 4 © Rupert Holmes
After a great year Etchells racing in Cowes the renaissance continues, 4 new owners joined the fleet in 2014 with a 5th buying a boat late season in preparation to start racing in 2015, plus a 6th importing a USA boat over the winter, to race from Cowes next spring.
And the fleets' growth is not restricted to Cowes, with over 10 boats built by the 3 registered builders worldwide, 5 of which were from David Heritages workshop in Cowes, making the World Wide fleet over 1420 boats, most of which still compete regularly in Europe, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and of course Hong Kong where the 2015 Worlds will be held, before the UK holds the 2016 edition at Weymouth.
The addictive nature of sailing Etchells is such that many UK owners throughout the World to compete in other continents, Miami is the destination of choice for a monthly weekends sailing fix for some Cowes owners, many of whom have 2nd boats there, or take advantage of the inexpensive charter fees.
UK Winners this year were Ante Razmilovic Europeans, overall and Corinthian, Nationals Nils Razmilovic Open Champion, David Franks British champion and Jack Muldoon Corinthian. Other Championship winners were Shaun Frohlich and Rob Goddard who both also won the 2014 Seasons Cowes Fleet League table overall and Corinthian respectively, Jeremy Thorp a newcomer to the fleet, and Nick Stagg overall Cowes week winner and Mark Downer Corinthian.
The 2015 Program is now available on the Cowes Etchells Fleet face book page and has a PDF link on the front page of www.etchellsukfleet.co.uk
The AGM of the British Etchells Fleet and also the Cowes fleet will be at the RTYC London and is set for the evening of Wednesday 7th January.