The Brian Hilton – Ineos Grenadier 2026 International Etchells NSW Championship was conducted by Gosford Sailing Club from Friday 6th February to Sunday 8th February. Six boats from RPAYC competed in the series and the final results can be found HERE.
After registration and crew weigh-in on Thursday we were all set for the regatta. Some crews managed to weigh-in by a very small margin (0.7kg) for 2107 Racing and others had a much larger gap (+20kg) to the maximum weight of 285kg.
The forecast wind for the 3 days was not looking too good but there was the chance of a seabreeze later each afternoon. Friday saw us receive an AP Over One just after the race briefing where we were held ashore for one hour. Once we all got out on the water the wind filled in from a ESE direction but this direction was short lived as the wind quickly swung to the NE direction and 8-10knots in strength. The RO managed to get two races in before a storm with lightning came into Gosford. We all returned to shore and prepared for the Seafood dinner night.
Saturday was a repeat of Friday, however the RO sent us all out on time with no AP ashore. However the wind did not come in until 2pm and we spent a couple of hours floating around in the heat. Luckily the support boats carried additional water bottles for us to drink and rehydrate. Eventually the wind came in from the NE and we managed to get three races onto the scorecard in a 8-10knot NEer. The RO tried to get a fourth race for the day in but this was going to affect the timing of the BBQ Roast dinner night, so the RO decided to head us in at 5pm. We had all been out on the water for 6-7hours at this point so it was a welcomed decision by most of the sailors.
Sunday saw a S-SW breeze in the morning of 8-12knots along with a bit of light rain. We started races around 11am and managed two races in the S-SW breeze before the wind started shifting to the east. The RO tried to relocate the course however the wind eventually dropped off completely. At this point we had completed 7 races of the proposed 8 race series and it was decided to send a boats ashore and start the pack up and craning out process.
The State Championship was won by Racer CC from Hong Kong with Mark Thornburrow/Julian Plante/Malcolm Page/Mike Huang. Magpie was second and Flying High third. Over the weekend the racing was run with the Vakaros Race Sense system. There were 8 races with not one general recall or black flag start. The Vakaros system is a great system for fleets that are notorious for OCS calls and general recalls. The system was also used to indicate when the boats were within the “zone” at the gates and the top mark. Tracking was also sent back to the Gosford Sailing Club so spectators could track the race from within the bar.
The six RPAYC boats placed as follows:
- 14th – 2107 Racing – Dave Taylor/Mark Hellyer/Mick Hayward – And the mid fleet prize
- 16th – Karabos – Martin Neaf/Dick Parker/Lachlan Wallace/Will Hough
- 20th – Northern Havoc – Dolly Divola/Scotty O’Connor/Tommy Spithill
- 21st – DOT – Justin Connell/Brian Owler/Freddy Phillips
- 22nd – Flirtation – Jason Antill/Steve Robson/Adam Law
- 27th – Miramar – Bruce Dey/Tom Crow/Smiley
David Taylor
Pittwater Etchells – Fleet Captain
Above photo credit to Gosford Sailing Club
