The Etchells West Coast Spring Series kicked off this weekend with the Pacific Coast Championship, won by Tom Carruthers’ Louise.
Etchells West Coast Spring Series kicked off this weekend with the Pacific Coast Championship, won by Tom Carruthers’ Louise.
Typically sailed on the Pacific Ocean course, day one of the championship on Saturday shifted to South San Diego Bay due to an elevated sea state. Racers still confronted winds of 20-plus knots, unique conditions for the area.
On day two Sunday, the fleet was towed out to their originally assigned course in the Pacific where skippers saw more traditional weather with lighter winds and swells.
Carruthers said his crew, which sailed in Miami recently, “turned a page in the program and in our performance, doing a great job picking shifts.”
He added that “if there was one critical moment, it was the last leg of the last race … we were able to get over to the left and pass everyone.”
Busch, the event chair, agreed that the championship came down to the final race.
“It all came down to the last beat of the last race who was going to win. We had a couple point lead going into the last race, but had a bad start. We got close, but it was really tight racing,” he said.
The Etchells fleet will return for the second regatta in the series, opening March 26. The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series, also known as the Bill Bennett Memorial Regatta, features six races.