Sheeting on in the Etchells with North Sails
by John Curnow 11 Dec 2017 07:31 GMT
Etchells Milson Goblets at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron © Darcie Cottington
The lure of One Design has always been the level playing field. The more stringent the control over the fleet, the more appealing it has been. For over 40 years, the Etchells have been at the pinnacle of the sport, always attracting Olympic, Round the World, and Americas Cup sailors, along with World Champions from its own fleet, and also many others.
Yet it is not only those with bling around their necks that make up the class, or the podium for that matter.
Many a sailor technically described as amateur have either been part of the family for a long time, or continue to be attracted to it for the fierce levels of on water competition and then also the knowledge sharing from boat park to bar. To do well here you need to be astute, sail well, remain deeply passionate, and always be looking for that little bit more. They’re those super-critical one percenters, and this is true no matter you are talking about being in the top ten, or comprising part of the gang at positions 30-40.
The vast majority of the fleet have always been powered by North Sails, with many of their own sail makers esteemed members of the fleet, and indeed there are many World Champions part of this brigade too. Yet it is not just the shapes and cuts of sails, but also the very Dacron used to construct them, such as the unique radial fabric, that North Sails has ploughed years of R&D experience and dollars into.
It is only a month ago that the Queensland State Championship was run on the very same course the 2018 World Championship is to be held. Naturally, attendance from all over the country was high, so a 39-boat fleet took to Moreton Bay to acquire even more skills in relation to areas famous wind and tide scenarios.
Coming out on top, just, was an outfit resplendent with some terrific talent and the most notable of all features, an 11-year-young sailing sensation in the form of Mitchell Luxton. He said of his first Etchells experience, “It was an awesome regatta. The competition was pretty cool, and I want to thank everyone on the boat. Out there on the water it was just so close and competitive."
"I started sailing when I was about four years old, and we went to the Whitsundays on our big yacht. Since then I have been progressing up through the dinghies. I am 11 now, and sailing Optimists at RQYS. The Etchells are pretty fast, compared to Optis, but the competition is very serious and you have to tweak a lot of stuff. I am definitely looking forward to sailing more Etchells.”
However, it was the rest of the crew that very much form part of that amateur by name, professional by heart group that we spoke of earlier. On the helm was Class Governor and Australian Vice President, David Clark. He is now part owner of AUS 1445, The Cure, that Ray Smith from WA had put together. Clark said, “I was talking with Ray about doing something, as we are both time poor, and it also helps with the overall costs. The Cure is a Pacesetter Etchells from the legendary Phil Smidmore.”
“We are powered by North Sails, with a whole set of new jibs too. It is working for all the top guys, so it eliminates any excuses! We decided to go and tune up early, so we grabbed Alan Smith (no relation), who I did the ’87 AC with and we also won the 2012 Australian title, and he sails with Ray in Perth. However we are 35kg under weight, so we found young Mitch, who comes from a truly sailing family.”
“We got the team focussed and then sheeted on. I have 100% confidence in Alan as Tactician, so with Ray on Main asking all the right questions it leaves me to concentrate on helming. Mitch did an awesome job running around looking after things and was really good at cleaning up after manoeuvres.”
“I am definitely happy with the overall package and the team is set for Brisbane in October next year. We do hope that Mitch’s family will allow him to continue with us. I have to say that Mike Hughes who normally sails with Ray did an awesome job as coach. At 115kg he cannot sail with us, but his observations were crucial to our overall success”, said Clark in closing.
Since taking to Etchells less than a decade ago, the charming and talented Jeanne-Claude Strong has taken her team on Yandoo XX (Seve Jarvin, Marcus Burke and Tiana Wittey, with coach Nev Wittey) to regattas all over the globe and racked up Maiden wins in major regattas, that now get backed up with subsequent attendances on the top of the dais.
The most recent victory was the Milson Silver Goblets on her beloved Sydney Harbour. Run over the course of a week, and comprising of a set of twilight events and the finale on the Saturday, Strong’s team have been a force in the event for some years now. Yet this year they brought out a new wardrobe from North Sails.
Strong commented afterwards, “It was a good regatta, and very close. I think there was only a second between first, second and third across the line in the last race, for instance. We’ve been training with Steve Jarvin and his team from Magpie on a fairly regular basis (they were the runners up at the recent World Championships in San Francisco), so we thought we should eliminate one possible variable - the sails. The shape of the North Sail Main in particular is different to what we have used previously.”
“The North Sails main also has a larger window, which is great for someone like this little wood duck. (My self confessed 6’2” doesn’t seem to translate to actual on water ability or ergonomics!). Seve loves the Runner, but the jibs are not too different from what we have used before. As in all things sailing, everything is a compromise. So one sail may work better in certain conditions, and vice versa.”
Strong added, “We were pretty consistent at the Goblets with the North Sails, and were very happy with them. At the end of the day it comes down to trim and helm, and especially confidence in your gear. Now we need to go on and win another Victorian and Queensland State Championship, as well as another Australasian Championship at Mooloolaba with our new wardrobe!”
So when it comes time to sheet on and go for pace, maybe you should look at a new set of sails from North Sails. There is a reason all the top teams use the sails with the distinctive blue roundel don in the tack. See northsails.com for your nearest loft.