The Sir Kenneth Preston regatta hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron was blessed with 3 days of sunshine and wind. Shorts and t-shirts were donned as 12 Etchells fought it out in the Solent with the PRO Philip Warwick and his race team faced with difficult winds but doing a brilliant job.
Day 1
For the first race a few boats cut it extremely close timing wise, nearly missing their start. Youth team Ziggy helmed by Jack Lewis took the win, showing the success of The Royal London Etchells Youth Academy, however Exabyte, helmed by Shaun Frohlich, managed to get into their groove and proceeded to win the next 2 races of the day. A one hour postponement between races 2 and 3 allowed a little too much pale flesh to be put on display. After racing the teams all scrubbed up and headed to the Royal Yacht Squadron for dinner.
Day 2
Teams arrived at the yacht haven with some sore heads as a consequence of David Maclean’s Champagne, which seems to have become the standard for an Etchells Saturday night. Another day of glorious sunshine and tricky northerly breeze was enjoyed, Jolly Roger helmed by Bruno Van-Dyke scored a bullet in races 5 and 7, while Exabyte kept an impressive low score line of 2,1,2.
Day 3
The sunshine was still in full force as the wind picked up for a final day of champagne sailing. The youth teams came out strong Ziggy taking the bullet in race 7 while Audrey helmed by Vita Heathcote took it in race 8, the last race of the day was won by Standfast – Simon Patterson – a newcomer to the class.
The overall win for the regatta saw Exabyte – Shaun Frohlich 1st, Jolly Roger – Bruno van-Dyke 2nd and Audrey (first youth boat) – Vita Heathcote 3rd. 1st Corinthian place went to Ziggy – Jack Lewis
