Scanning the horizon

In January 2020, Roberts advised that following queries concerning the Australian mould, the governors of the international body had asked for scans of two boats from each of the three builders to form the basis of an audit of the fleet.

“In short, we are still very early on in the process of review, and due to COVID-19, progress has understandably been slow,” he advised.

“Further, by reason of limited financial resourcing in the international body, the proposed scanning of six boats was regrettably reduced to only one, which was a boat from the Australian mould. That scan was then compared with a single scan of an Ontario boat that was generated around 15 years ago.”

Limited by reason of the sample size, and also queries around the robustness of comparing scans in this way, the International Class is now looking to other forms of testing in the hope of advancing the review.

“It is of course well known that all three manufacturers have always produced boats that are not identical. This is the product of Etchells being built from three separate moulds across three continents,” explained Roberts.

“However, the class rules then ensure that there is indeed a certain sameness by requiring that all Etchells, regardless of the builder, fit within well-defined tolerances that encapsulate the measurement process.

“I do not feel anything shown to date allows one to make any kind of informed decision about whether the known differences between the three manufacturers is anything other than noise.”

Roberts believes that the recent success of the Australian boats in overseas events like the Etchells World Championships in Corpus Christi last year was more to do with the talent of the sailors involved, particularly world champions Iain Murray, Colin Beashel and Richard Allanson on Havoc.

“The way those guys went about setting up their boats is now being emulated by many Etchells crews across the world,” claimed Roberts.

“It was pretty revolutionary stuff that followed an 18-month period of intense trial and error with many long hours spent on the water two-boat testing.

“Watching this unfold was pretty cool, to be honest, and from my perspective, one of the best things was the willingness of these guys to share their knowledge with anyone wishing to ask.”

On the regatta front, Roberts highlighted more exciting racing news. “Of course we are all upset to realise that the Perth World Championships would need to be adjourned until 2021. However, this only provides more opportunity to make this event even bigger and better as far as I am concerned.”

“In the meantime, the Australian fleet will return to the iconic waters of Sydney Harbour in January 2021 for the Australian Championship, which will be hosted by the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. With the championship returning to Sydney Harbour for the first time in 15-odd years, this is likely to be a wonderfully exciting and well-attended event.

“Having also spoken recently with sailing icon John Bertrand AO, who is planning on getting up to Sydney over the next couple of months for some sailing, this will be the perfect venue to bring us all together again to share some great sailing, a few beers with mates, and lots of fun.

“Even better still, we have extended an invitation to our wet-sailed Etchells friends to be involved in a showcase event.”

In closing, Roberts commented, “As highlighted in our original January release, we remain committed to transparency and delivering accurate information, once this has been firstly determined, and then ratified.

“In the meantime, we are all looking forward to racing, which is exactly what this great class has always been about – out on the water where it all counts.”

etchells.org.au