On April 29 and 30, over 20 boats raced in Coronado Roads for the Etchells Pacific Coast Championship (Etchells PCC) hosted by San Diego Yacht Club. Following the NOOD Regatta and the Etchells Midwinters, the Pacific Coast Championship was the third event in the Etchells West Coast Spring Series. Over 2 days of racing, the Race Committee ran 8 races, using one as a throw out score.
Conditions varied greatly over the two days which kept competitors on their toes. At its peak, the breeze reached about 15 knots with gusts at 17 knots, speeds that sailors in San Diego rarely see.
Chris Snow (USA 1018) placed seventh in the championship, but said that despite varied conditions, he was most focused on getting his crew in sync after some last minute changes.
"It was a little bit of everything, we had really light wind on Saturday and then today (Sunday) it was really windy. The biggest obstacle was that we had never sailed together and two people on board had never sailed an Etchells before. Even though there were less boats sailing in this event, it was still very competitive.”
Snow is planning to sail the Etchells North American and World Championships later this year, as is Argyle Campbell (USA 1433), the winner of the Etchells PCC and second in the series after three events.
"Like the previous two events, we practiced for two complete days before the series which was helpful. We had the same crew as the first event (the NOOD), which was a little different from the Midwinters. We had our normal crew that we plan to sail the Worlds with so we're starting to get to know each other and get used to our roles on the boat.”
Campbell shared the secret behind his success this weekend, which included all finishes within the top 3 boats and three wins. “The one thing we practiced and we tried to really work on was our starts. The practice paid off and we had all good starts this weekend- always in a clear lane so we could tack and not be bothered by other boats. Getting clear water was what we wanted so we could steer where we wanted to steer. It was huge."
Finishing second this weekend was Keith Whittemore (USA 1152) who had the youngest crew member out on the water this weekend, Peter Busch. Thirteen-year-old Busch normally sails Sabots and had only sailed an Etchells a handful of times before competing this weekend.
"My favorite part of the weekend was the last race. We won after being in fourth place for the majority of the race. We went to the left and got a pressure and a lift. The other boats got stuck in a light spot and we rolled them to the finish."
Finishing fifth this weekend was Don Jesberg (USA 1429) who is also fourth overall in the series. Crewing for Jesberg was Andrea Cabito who agreed that the changing conditions proved difficult over the weekend.
"The wind was really crazy today (Sunday). It was all over the place and that was definitely the challenge. When the wind changes, you’re changing spinnakers, rig tune, jibs, battens, everything. Pretty much every boat changed all of that before the last race and then the wind shut off so everyone had everything wrong for the last race.”
Though the conditions were constantly changing, Cabito said that it allowed for a lot of opportunity to try new strategies. “We looked brilliant for moments and other people looked brilliant in other moments."
Top WCSS Standings after three events (including one throwout):
1. Tom Carruthers 4 points
2. Argyle Campbell 5 points
2. Bruce Nelson 5 points
4. Don Jesberg 7 points
5. Jim Cunningham 10 points
The Etchells West Coast Spring Series continues with the final event, the ORCA Bowl, on May 20 & 21 at SDYC.