It’s apparent that in sailing, consistency ultimately leads to success.
Team Elizabeth proved that, earning the first place title for the 2021 Etchells West Coast Spring Series. The team, skippered by Chris Busch and crewed by Ben Mitchell and Patrick Powell, finished the series without any first place regatta wins, but a string of three second place finishes in the final three regattas was significant. Going into the Orca Bowl, Busch was in a three way tie with Jim Cunningham’s Lifted and Tom Carruthers's Louise. With the same consistency and fast sailing, Team Elizabeth was able to finish on top and proudly accept the first place award.
Elizabeth was absent for the first race in the series, the Helly Hanson NOOD Regatta (and Bill Bennett Cup). They finished second in both the Midwinters West and in the Pacific Coast Championship.
“It was a trickier weekend [May 15-16] than we’ve had, but we’re really happy with our consistency and how we ended up. The wind was really streaky. A boat not that far away from you could be in a completely different puff or angle. The last race was really important to the Orca Bowl and the series as a whole. The wind shifted left right before the start. We ended up winning the pin at the start and won the race from the left. It was a crucial moment for us to solidify second place in the Orca Bowl and the win in the series. It was definitely the most important race,” explained Busch.
The final results of the Orca Bowl saw Will La Dow’s Second Wind in first place, Elizabeth in second place, and Argyle Campbell’s Rock On in third place. With these results, the final Etchells West Coast Spring Series final standings were as follows:
First: Chris Busch’s Elizabeth, 6 Points
Second: Tom Carruther’s Louise, 8 Points
Third: Jim Cunningham’s Lifted, 9 Points
In speaking with Busch about the regatta, he commented on Will La Dow and Second Wind’s success. “The impressive part of this weekend was the La Dow family. They sailed incredibly well and won with a race to spare. They’re old school on their set up, not using the Australian set up with new systems. It makes you wonder if we’re going down the wrong rabbit hole with the set up on the boat. That's the beautiful thing with these boats, there are so many ways to set them up and still go fast and those guys showed it.”
Will La Dow attests the win to simple sailing and staying out of trouble. “We did a good job keeping it simple and sailing fast. We got off the line, didn’t get into any trouble, kept the boat moving fast and didn’t make any rash decisions. You can see with our score line we don’t have a single bad race. It’s a testament to keeping it consistent,” Will commented.
This is only Will’s second Etchells event, but he was sailing with his father, Andy La Dow, who has been sailing in the Fleet for over 30 years. This is Andy’s sixth Orca Bowl win. “I’ve sailed Etchells since the mid-eighties and won twice crewing for Bill Munster who created the Orca Bowl. The Orca Bowl was always Fleet 13’s very own fun perpetual. I would call it the One Weekend San Diego Etchells Fleet Championship,” added Andy.
Putting up a good fight against Chris Busch throughout the series was Tom Carruthers. Carruthers finished fifth in the Orca Bowl, placing his team in second overall and allowing Busch to break the tie on top. Jim Cunningham’s Lifted was unable to attend the final regatta, but with a throw-out available, still finished the series in third place. Carruthers also reported steady competition with the younger crowd in the regatta, Team Flow, skippered by Tyler Sinks and crewed by Max Hutcheson, Kara Voss and Parker Shinn.
“It was our first time sailing with two of the crew members, so we focused a lot on figuring out how to communicate as a team and set up the boat for the conditions on the first day. We learned a lot and definitely made some improvements today. We learned something new each regatta of the series. We made the necessary improvements and got a little better each time. The Etchells fleet is one of SDYC’s strongest One Design fleets and it’s where a lot of the best sailors are. If you want to go up against the best, sail in the Etchells class,” said Sinks.
Sinks and his crew Max Hutchinson will be joined by seven other SDYC members in a few months at the New York Yacht Club Rolex Invitational Cup, where they came in second in 2019. The team is ready to get back on the course led by Coach Vince Brun and are being cheered on by SDYC, their supporting yacht club. The team will be spending their summer in Newport , RI sailing in several regattas in the IC37.
After the racing, all of the teams were invited back to the docks for an awards ceremony. The teams and crews enjoyed beer and cocktails in the parking lot and celebrating the end of a successful series amongst the Fleet. Next up for the Etchells Fleet is the North American Championship on the home waters of San Diego from September 30 - October 3.
San Diego sailing conditions were late to show for the Orca Bowl this weekend. Saturday brought overcast south southwest winds at 200-240 with 6-9 kts velocity, with a mild swell from about the same direction. "It was better than a few weeks ago at the Yachting Cup when we had strong south winds and a west swell that makes everyone feel sorry for the Race Committee riding this pitching and bucking boat at anchor for 8 hours each day,” offered Race Officer Jeff Johnson. He continued, "With the start line approaching 1000', starts were competitive and the fleet was pretty disciplined. Saturday course legs were 1.1 and 1.2 in length. Nice long races with usually a little bit of a breakout by the lead couple of boats, but middle of the fleet remained in touch with the leaders and jostling for positions all the way around the course. That's what makes these boats so popular!"
On Sunday, the Race Committee had to postpone until the winds showed up at around 7-9 kts from 230. Johnson reported large dark clouds, a scattering drizzle and toying with the winds until about 1300. Race 5 was light and left with a progressive right shift after the clouds cleared out, and a great 10-12 kts wind from 260-270 filled in, with patches of sun and blue skies! Unfortunately, that right phase filled in during the start of the last (6th) race.
The Etchells fleet can't be fooled about how square the line is. "They were pretty aggressive on the first try with a bunch of boats over 30+ seconds before the start, but the second start attempt was just geometry (right shift 'lifts' boats on a shorter path to the line so boats usually early) and it wasn't really their fault. We postponed the third start attempt to square the course from 235 to 260. Final attempt was what I'm used to seeing....20+ graceful Etchells bows on the line charging at "Mark! All Clear!” Johnson included.
To view the final Orca Bowl results, visit: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=14340
To view the final Etchells West Coast Spring Series results, visit: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EW5F54d7LE-rht_RXT3knQtfyGhUzLLB06_-0jC-r2c/edit#gid=0