Lammens wins battle, Siegel wins the war…!
By Jonas Fyre-Panz
Hank Lammens, Moose McClintoch and Dirk Kneulman won the Etchells US National Championship, graciously hosted by New York Yacht Club at Harbor Court in Newport R.I. over the weekend of Oct 2-3. Thirty three boats from as far a field as Michigan, Miami and Canada traveled to the US Nationals which was the grand finale of the Zhik Etchells Atlantic Championship series. Jeff Siegel, Jeff Madrigali and Willem Van Way (plus Becky and CeCe Imbrie in different regattas) won the overall series title after posting wins in the Atlantic Championships and Rhode Island Cup earlier in the summer. Steve Girling, Ched Proctor and Tucker Edmundson/Dave Lutian were third in the US Nationals and second in the Zhik series.
Regatta Report
Narragansett Bay had lots to offer on the opening day of the Etchells US Nationals. Spider Fortier and his race committee did yeoman’s work to fit three races in on Saturday in a dying North-Easterly gradient that was forecast to shut off by mid afternoon. The fleet was rewarded with champagne sailing all day Sunday in a gusty 20+ knot blast.
After a general recall the fleet got away at the second attempt with an even split down the line. A tricky beat ensued with gains made in the middle and most noticeably on the left edge of the track where pressure/lefties were prevalent. Around the weather mark, Poindexter sailing with longtime crew Dave Dyson and Michael Loeb, Mills, sailing with father Jamie and Chris Constant, Siegel, sailing with Madro, Willem and CeCe and Colin Gordon sailing with Senet Bischoff and Ben Kinney were all in the hunt with the fleet strung out behind. An early gybe paid dividends for the chasing pack and a light spot for the leaders saw the action compress.
With the pressure continuing to decrease, the second beat was more difficult and boats playing the middle right gained significantly on the pack. Lammens was the most notable mover, getting back into the leading group after a mid-teens weather mark rounding.
At the finish, Poindexter held on for an impressive win with Mills second and Siegel third.
Race two was started in a struggling 8 knots from the NNE which soon decreased to 4-5 kts on the first beat and barely kept the fleet going on the first run. Jordan Smith, sailing with Justin Nolf and Denis Hope-Ross dominated the race with a wire to wire victory in his recently restored USA 44 ! Another former great, USA 398 driven by Scott Kaufman, sailing with Aubrey Mayer, Lauren Gilhooley and Kevin Gilman managed to hold on to second, while Siegel put in another solid result in third. Jay Mills and crew sailed a good race to post a 4th to share the early overall pace with Siegel.
Race three was started in a flaky 5 knot northerly and was dominated by Lammens who got a clean start and some ‘personal’ pressure to sail away from the fleet as everyone else toiled behind.
Don Brush and crew got a solid race going to round in second with Siegel again in third, Hitchcock fourth and Girling fifth. Matters became somewhat more challenging on the run as a super light and lifted zone engulfed the fleet. Wade Edwards, Justin Muller and Tim Platt ordered up some exclusive pressure and sailed right through the fleet (to leeward) with the port edge still hung out to dry. At the leeward mark, Lammens was gone, Brush led Siegel and Edwards around the left gate while Girling split to the right. A light and difficult second beat saw the left edge re-establish at the top allowing the leaders to sneak around with the pack struggling. On the port pole run to the finish, Edwards, now up to third (!) Almost got Brush on the line, sometime after Lammens had crossed for the win, while Girling snuck in ahead of Siegel and Poindexter.
Overnight leader Siegel was impressive in his consistency on a difficult first day, posting a 3,3,5. The chasing pack had some work to do with Poindexter, Lammens, Girling, Edwards and Winkelmann all close on points but 7 or more adrift at the halfway point in the regatta.
A wonderful cook out at New York Yacht Club’s Sailing Center on Saturday evening provided a great environment for old friends and new to catch up and tell tall stories!
Sunday dawned cool and breezy, with a forecast suggesting 17-22kts from the NNE possible. The fleet was rewarded with all of that and more!
The set up of the course provided some interesting tactical options, with the right hand shore in play and showing brief right shifts and current relief, but significant bands of pressure and left shift rolling through from the middle-left. It was really a case of being in the right place at the right time!
The start line for Race 4 was pin biased which made team Mills (Jay, Jamie and Chris) pretty happy as they occasionally like to start at the pin!
Unfortunately, much of the fleet had not appreciated the bias and so there was not much pressure for Mills and Girling (with Ched Proctor and Tucker Edmundson) to get away clean at that end. After the start, Mills and Girling waited for the first strong band of left pressure (19-21 kts and 10 degrees of left shift) and flipped onto port to chase the port tack pack that appeared to be racing for the right shore. Girling was first to benefit from the next oscillation back to the right and tacked, Mills, having gained from the lefty, chose to duck and hipped up a hundred yards to the right. At this point the five or six boats who were still left were converging on a nice lefty, but as the breeze oscillated back in favor of Girling and Mills, both again crossed easily. At the weather mark Girling was just able to force Mills to double tack and held a nice lead.
Mills and Siegel gained on the run by gybing early and at one point it looked as though Mills would take the lead, but Girling held the low lane and led to the right gate with Mills taking the left.
On the second beat, Girling brought another nice band of pressure and lefty across from the left to consolidate, but now had Lammens and Mills to contend with. In the final approach to the top mark, with Lammens covering Siegel to the left, Girling chose to protect Mills slightly to the right. This allowed Lammens to get into second and Siegel third with Mills now caught up with Winkelmann, sailing with Brad Boston and Eric Vigrass and Gordon.
Down the run, Lammens initially gained a significant advantage from a good hoist and early gybe and with all crews working their tails off in the 20 knot surfing conditions, it looked as though he might have the momentum, but Girling again made the low lane work with some hustle from Ched and Tuck to get the most out of every wave. On the final gybe into the finish, Girling was clear ahead of Lammens, with Siegel third.
Race Five saw building breeze, trending further right. A general recall was followed by a jam packed boat end start that was thankfully called all clear by PRO Spider Fortier after it looked as though all of the main contenders might be Z-Flagged. Lammens, Siegel and Girling all escaped clean from the boat end and flipped onto port having noticed good right pressure. Taking the righty, they came back ahead of the pack, but it was the boats further left who gained most as a big left band of pressure rolled in half way up the beat and again at the top mark. Wade Edwards and crew were flying, with Winkelmann, Gordon, Michael Gavin, sailing with Bill Abbott and Ed Furrey, Lammens and Siegel all in close attendance. Girling was now struggling to hold onto their tails. Another breeze on, but unstable run ensued, with the pack moving left, but the big gains coming on the right in clear air. At the leeward mark the pack favored the left gate, sailing back toward the right shore upwind while boats in the middle were able to gain distance and places back from another band of left pressure. Edwards sailed a nice beat and run for the win, Siegel protected second from Lammens (third) as best he could in the exciting surfing conditions, Winkelmann sailed a solid race for fourth as did Gordon in fifth.
So Race six was set up as a winner takes all showdown between Siegel and Lammens, with Girling a few points adrift in third.
The pin again felt favored in Race six but the fleet apparently didn’t want to be there. Girling started 10 lengths up from the pin as the furthest left boat with the pack a few lengths to weather. A right shift off the line popped Lammens and Nye (sailing with Glenn Morrison and Jamie Beaty), but Girling below managed to hang in there for the next band of pressure and left shift in what was now a steady 22-25 kts. Girling flipped with the lefty and Lammens followed four lengths below and bow forward.
It was now a drag race back to the right with the fleet on port. Girling made early gains in the lefty, then Lammens gained as the breeze veered ten to the right, but at the layline, Girling was just able to tack ahead of Lammens and force him to double tack. An average hoist from Girling allowed Lammens right back into the action with Siegel also making gains. At one point it looked as though Siegel would surf all the way up to Lammens, but somehow Lammens held on. Girling, again worked the low lane and at the leeward mark, Lammens and Girling split the left and right gates. At this point disaster struck Siegel who had some derivative of a jib up, kite down issue and he could not go back upwind until that was cleared. This allowed Edwards, Nye and Poindexter back into the fray.
Lammens gained immediately out of the leeward mark and was suddenly one hundred yards ahead of Girling who was also now struggling to cross the other boats who had exited the left gate cleanly and made similar gains. Lammens burned some of his lead and loose covered as Girling just crossed Nye. At the weather mark it was Lammens followed by Girling with a horror show hoist that burned everything that he had fought for upwind on Nye, then Edwards and Siegel who had recovered to fifth. Although Girling eventually got it going and pulled back to Lammens, it was a relatively easy (22-25 knot) run to the finish for Lammens to clinch the race and his first Etchells US National Championship. Girling was safe in second, Edwards pipped Nye for third and Siegel crossed fifth.
Champagne sailing on a blast reach back to Fort Adams was the reward for all this hard work and there were some pretty big smiles all around. As usual, the New York Yacht Club did a marvelous job with hosting the awards party and series sponsor, Zhik was on hand to distribute gear to all competitors in the room.
Overall Results – Etchells US National Championship
| Pos | Sail # | Boat Name | Crew |
Pts |
| 1./ | CAN 1381 | Cruel Jane | Lammens, Kneulman, McClintoch |
12 |
| 2./ | USA 1296 | 1296 | Siegel, Madrigali, Van Way, CC |
16 |
| 3./ | USA 1200 | Lion Heart | Girling, Proctor, Edmundson |
21 |
| 4./ | USA 1221 | Riva | Edwards, Muller, Platt |
24 |
| 5./ | USA 1341 | 1341 | Poindexter, Davis, Loebster |
25 |
Zhik Etchells Atlantic Championship Series Overall
(US Nationals plus Best two results from Long Island Sound Champs, Atlantic Coast Champs, Rhode Island Cup)
| Pos | Sail # | Boat | Crew |
Pts |
| 1./ | USA 1296 | 1296 | Siegel, Madrigali, Van Way, (Becky/CeCe) |
4 |
| 2./ | USA 1200 | Lion Heart | Girling, Proctor, (Lutian/Edmundson) |
8 |
| 3./ | USA 1199 | 1199 | Jay Mills, Jamie Mills, Chris Constant |
12 |
| 4./ | USA 1308 | KGB | Ben Kinney, Colin Gordon, Senet Bischoff |
14 |
| 5./ | USA 1332 | 1332 | Kurt Winkelmann, Brad Boston, Eric Vigrass |
15
|