Etchells World Championships

The 2007 Etchells World Championship was hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Cowes from 25th-30th June. Forty-five teams from Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Hong Kong, Sweden, the USA and UK qualified and made the trip to Cowes for what was to prove to be a spectacular event with six different winners in seven races.

The championship opened with near gales and day one racing had to be cancelled. By day two conditions were lighter but still very trying. In race one the wind was shifting by up to 40 degrees and varying from 18 knots to almost nothing. The wind settled a little for race two but was still incredibly shifty. Andy Beadsworth kicked off the regatta with an impressive win followed by a sixth in race two to hold the overall lead just ahead of James Howells, while 2006 World Champion Jud Smith from the USA and New Zealand's Jon Andrews shared third place.

A competitive edge triggered by a troublesome start

Day two also brought drama for the Race Committee when the principle committee boat experienced a serious electrical fire. The team aboard came close to being forced to abandon boat but fortunately succeeded in extinguishing the fire just in time. No one was seriously injured in the event and the team transferred to continue their work on another vessel with the competitors none the wiser. Day three brought 22-26 knot average winds with gusts over 30, resulting in various gear and crew failures. Ante Razmilovic was the day's top performer taking third in the morning and winning the afternoon race, but Beadsworth's seventh and third were enough to retained the lead for a second day with Smith second and Howells third overall.

Racing on day four started in 17 knots and rapidly increased, spiking at 27, but despite this racing was the closest of the championship yet. Beadsworth and his team showed incredible consistency taking fourth and first to hold their lead, although as the discard kicked in just nine points separated the top four places with Razmilovic now three points behind in second, Howells third and Smith fourth.

Sensational showdowns

The competitors and race committee spent all of day five watching the weather and praying for a gap in the near gale force winds but sadly none materialised. With the championship so close the scheduled reserve day was used to run one final race and on Saturday morning competitors set off into torrential rain for a final light airs showdown. And what a showdown it was. With only one race to sail Beadsworth and Razmilovic went head to head for the title and as they came together on the start line it was clear we were in for a treat. Smith bowed out of his tenure as World Champion with a master class win to take second overall. But the day belonged to Andy Beadsworth and his crew Oscar Strugstad and Simon Fry as they took on and ultimately trounced Ante Razmilovic, sailing with Jez Fanstone and Stuart Flinn.

The pair started side by on the line with Beadsworth to weather but as they headed left Razmilovic had speed and height, eventually forcing Beadsworth to tack and initiating a spectacular dog fight. With the fleet going right the pair went at it hammer and tongs on the left. Eventually Beadsworth's greater match racing experience began to show and as they came back to the fleet at the weather mark he was ninth with Razmilovic 12th. Beadsworth and his team were on spectacular form and gained places on every leg thereafter as Razmilovic struggled but failed to catch him. By the start of the final beat the championship was a foregone conclusion but Beadsworth wasn't happy just to win it, he wanted to win in style and put in a bravura final beat to pull up from sixth to third and stamp the names Andy Beadsworth, Oscar Strugstad and Simon Fry indelibly on the trophy.

An accolade of recognition

Following the prize giving an elated Andy Beadsworth, who is based in Titchfield but sails regularly from Cowes, paid tribute to his co-owner Oscar Strugstad and team mate Simon Fry - "Simon and I had a crack at it last year with a different co-owner as a last minute thing and we were competitive. At that time we were already committed to this programme which was very much targeted at trying to win these worlds. We talked about doing something with Oscar and discussed whether he drove or I drove or what ever and we decided that trying to win the worlds was our goal and this was the best way we could do it together as a team. Since then we've worked hard to put the programme together in the best way we possibly could. We bought the boat in America at the beginning of the year and did Miami, then came back here and did all of the UK events. We've had great competition from the UK fleet which has been vital in helping us to raise our game to this level. I think the thing I'm most proud of in winning this Worlds is that we led on the opening day and we've led every day since so I feel we can be very happy with ourselves."

For further details of this year's winners, please visit the official Etchells World Championship website. To download a full list of previous Etchells World Championship Winners and the location of the event since it began in 1975, please click here.

This event would not have been possible without the generous support of the many individual volunteers and members of the Cowes Etchells fleet who gave so generously of their time and supported the event in many different ways. In particular the organisers would like to acknowledge the generous financial contribution made by Etchells owners Mike Till, Paul Kelsey, Doug Flynn, Robert Elliott, Ante Razmilovic and Nils Razmilovic and by corporate supporters Greenhill & Co Investment Bank, Slam, North Sails and Mount Gay.

Text courtesy of Fiona Brown.
Photographs courtesy of Paul Wyeth.

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