2025 East Gippsland Etchells Championships at Metung Yacht Club - Overall
by Jeanette Severs 9 Feb 08:45 UTC
8-9 February 2025
Two last minute cancellations saw seven Etchells from the Metung fleet enter the East Gippsland Etchells Championship, on February 8, 2025.
The two-day regatta became a one-day event due to storms on the second day.
The course, in Lake King, was set on an axis of 250 degrees, over a 0.8 nautical mile distance, with two windward-leeward returns to the finish.
Race one saw a clear start, and the boats were led to the first windward mark by Elusive AUS1360, helmed by Jeff Rose, and crewed by Rob Conn and Wayne Smith.
Elusive was followed around the mark by Come Monday AUS1332, helmed by Stuart Loft and crewed by Dean Smith and Brian Land.
Behind them was New Wave AUS1158, helmed by Damien Daniel and crewed by Ian Cameron and Stephen Richardson, in a tight bunch with Odyssey, Kelpie, Leading Edge and Quandong, in that order.
Elusive was well clear of the fleet as spinnakers flew in the 8-12 knot breeze.
Come Monday led the rest of the fleet, as they spread out along the course.
The first turn around the leeward mark saw Elusive still well clear, followed by Come Monday.
Odyssey AUS1254, helmed by Roger Claydon and crewed by Leigh Unsworth and Sarah Clough, had moved up the fleet, rounding the leeward mark in third position. They were followed closely by the all-youth team on board Kelpie AUS882, helmed by Toby Conn, crewed by Mitch Kanat and Tom Russell.
Quandong AUS1245, helmed by Niesje Hees and crewed by Cliff Gibson and Josh Reid, led the end of the fleet.
The second beat up to the windward mark saw some movement in positions, although Elusive followed by Come Monday had a strong one-two position.
Leading Edge AUS1443, helmed by Fred Haes, with crew of Adrian France, Will Crooke and Blake Smith, had pushed up the fleet and was third around the windward mark on the second leg.
They were followed by Odyssey, Kelpie, Quandong and New Wave, in that order.
Elusive was first across the finish line, followed by Come Monday, then Leading Edge in third place.
They were followed by Odyssey, Kelpie, Quandong and New Wave, in that order.
The second race, set on an axis of 260 degrees and over 0.8nm, in 13 knots, saw a lot of tight bunching at the start line and many boats go OCS. Some did their penance turn, others had to be recalled. In the end, the race officer, Dean Robson, called the race abandoned at the turn on the first windward mark.
Race two was re-started under a U flag. Course was 0.8nm, on an axis of 260 degrees, wind at 13 knots.
At the first windward mark, Quandong AUS1245 led the way, helmed by Niesje Hees, crewed by Josh Reid and Cliff Gibson.
She was hotly pursued by Come Monday AUS1332, followed by Leading Edge AUS1443. Elusive, Kelpie, New Wave and Odyssey, in that order, made up the rest of the fleet round the mark.
Quandong continued to lead the fleet on the spinnaker leg and around the leeward mark, but was overtaken on the next leg by Come Monday, followed by Leading Edge.
Elusive was also moving up the fleet, and on the final spinnaker run, Come Monday led the fleet home, crossing the finish line ahead of Elusive, followed by Quandong. Leading Edge sailed across the finish line followed by Kelpie. New Wave finished ahead of Odyssey.
Unfortunately two boats finished UFD, because the race began under a U flag, which saw Come Monday and Kelpie disqualified.
The race outcome was Elusive in first place, followed by Quandong in second place. Leading Edge was third, New Wave in fourth place, and Odyssey was fifth.
New Wave had to retire from the regatta at the start of race three, with gear failure.
The wind had shifted around so the axis for race three was 280 degrees, over 0.8nm, with wind 13 knots.
It was a clear start in race three, in very low visibility (visibility had been lessening all day), for six Etchells. Low visibility made navigation to the marks a matter of timing rather than clear sight.
Leading Edge AUS1443 was first around the windward mark, followed by Kelpie AUS882, then Elusive AUS1360.
They were followed in order by Come Monday AUS1332, the Odyssey AUS1254 and Quandong AUS1245.
At this stage, it was apparent there had been a wind shift, and the race officer Dean Robson organised the second leg to be on an axis of 260 degrees.
Leading Edge was the first spinnaker to appear on the horizon, and led the fleet around the leeward mark, with Elusive, Kelpie and Come Monday in a bunch.
Leading Edge retained her lead on the second leg, leading the fleet around the windward mark the second time, and sailing first across the finish line.
Elusive had established herself in second place for the rest of the race, but Come Monday passed Kelpie on the second tack to the windward mark turn.
Leading Edge was first across the finish line in race three, followed by Elusive, then Come Monday.
Kelpie sailed into fourth position, ahead of Odyssey, with Quandong at the back of the fleet.
Race Officer, Dean Robson, said the courses were set to try and accommodate a shifty wind.
"The weather forecast was westerly and gradually move to southeast," he said.
"The wind ended up coming in more westerly with a little bit of north in it.
"About 3pm, as race two ended, we saw it move across to south of west.
"The breeze strength was steady, 8-11-12 knots, but shifty throughout the day."
With race two starting under a U flag, two boats were OCS and disqualified. However, both crews chose to sail the race.
"There's no opportunity to exonerate yourself under a U flag," Robson said.
"The racing today was clean and competitive, and the fleet was pretty tight.
"I estimated each race would take 40 minutes and sailing was pretty close to the target times.
"And luckily we got all the races in before the southeast change, which was a quick wind change."
The regatta was abandoned before racing got under way on day two.
The series was declared at three races.
Elusive is the 2025 East Gippsland Etchells champion. It is the sixth time that Jeff Rose has won the championship, and the third time sailing Elusive.
Rose is a past junior member of Metung Yacht Club and past commodore and had another, more recent, junior member of MYC in his crew, in Wayne Smith. In accepting the trophy, Rose commended Smith for his fast and neat work on the spinnaker.
"It came down fast and didn't touch the water," Rose said.
Rose dedicated the trophy win this year to a recently departed long term member and volunteer at MYC - Rob Hutton.
Elusive also won the trophies for heat one and heat two races. Leading Edge was awarded the trophy of heat three.
The Rex Billing perpetual trophy is awarded to the winner of heat one. Billing won a Fastnet race in a Cavalier 28, and was a perpetual volunteer at Metung Yacht Club, taking out the rescue boat and setting the course at each year's East Gippsland Etchells Championship.
The Barrie Gordon Ravell memorial trophy is awarded to the winner of heat two. Ravell, a past commodore of Royal Brighton Yacht Club, was instrumental in bringing the Etchells class to Metung, and owned the second Etchells in Australia, Clipper. He also owned Reverie and sailed both Etchells at Metung and Melbourne.
The David Lawrence memorial trophy is awarded to the winner of heat three. Lawrence sailed in the Etchells Temptress, winner of the East Gippsland Etchells Championship in 2012 and 2018.
Full results available here
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