The Etchells West Coast Spring Series kicked off this weekend with the Pacific Coast Championship, the first of four regattas in the Series. Tom Carruthers team set the standard for the Series, finishing 1st with 20 points, 4 points over 2nd place Chris Busch. In third, Jim Cunningham finished with 27 points.
1st Place: Tom Carruthers, Bill Hardesty, Jeff Reynolds
2nd Place: Chris Busch, Ben Mitchell, Patrick Powell
3rd Place: Jim Cunningham, Steve Hunt, Erik Shampain, Serena Village
1st Corinthian: Will La Dow
Typically sailed on the Pacific Ocean course, day one of the PCC’s was relocated to South San Diego Bay, due to an elevated sea state. In South San Diego Bay, sailors raced in 20+ knots, unique conditions for San Diego. On day two, the final day of the regatta, the fleet was towed out to their originally assigned course in the Pacific. Today’s ocean course saw more traditional San Diego weather with lighter winds and swells.
Jim Cunningham (3rd place skipper)
“This weekend was fantastic with a lot of good racing. We ended up having six races with very different conditions. We sailed inside on day one, with up to 20-21 knots, which is really different for San Diego.”
Bill Hardesty (1st place crew)
“It came down to getting good starts. We’ve been focusing on starting on an open part of line and it’s been paying off.”
Tom Carruthers (1st place)
“Last weekend in Miami, we turned a page in the program and in our performance, doing a great job picking shifts. On the very first leg today we missed the right shift and it started us off on the wrong foot. After that, we were consistent with our performance and Bill did a great job picking the shifts. 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.”
Carruthers and Hardesty came from sailing in Miami before the Series started, getting good practice for San Diego.
According to the regatta chairman Chris Busch, the regatta really did come down to the last race.
Chris Busch (2nd place skipper)
“We’re so fortunate to be out here once again sailing the Series. We had great conditions. 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. Congratulations to Tom Carruthers for his victory and to Andy La Dow for winning top Corinthian.”
The Etchells fleet will return for the second regatta in the series on March 26-27, 2022 for the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series, formally known as the NOOD regatta. The H/H Sailing World Regatta Series will double as the Bill Bennett Memorial Regatta and feature six intense races back in the Pacific Ocean.
