The third event of the Etchells West Coast Spring Series (WCSS) was the Etchells Pacific Coast Championship (PCC) sailed the weekend of April 9-10. The weekend forecast called for intermittent rain squalls with winds of 15 to 20 knots and gusts up to 25+ knots. As competitors prepared for the weekend, they were very concerned that they might be in for some brutal weather conditions. On Saturday morning Etchells arrived to the start line on Coronado Roads and were surprised to find a mild south breeze and semi cloudy skies. Looking out to the south, there was a very visible storm line so the Race Committee got the first race off quickly in an effort to get the day’s races in before the conditions deteriorated.
At the start of race one, many sailors were anticipating that the wind would go further left so the fleet was bunched at the pin. Steve Hunt (USA 873) was the exception and started near the committee boat. He got into some small puffs coming down the right side of the course and jumped out on the fleet. Near the top of the leg Steve then crossed over to the left side of the course and was the first to get to a significant left shift which gave him a huge 50 yard lead at the first mark. He easily held the lead through the rest of the race for the win in race one. Don Jesberg (USA 1229) finished second and Bruce Nelson (USA 876) grabbed third.
As the storm front moved north it diverted inland, which lightened the wind for races two and three, but the fleet was able to get in two more races in rather pleasant partly sunny conditions and avoid the potential carnage of having to sail in a rain squall with 20+ knot winds. Steve Hunt (USA 873) went on to win the last two races of the day. In each of these races he, had to come up from behind for the win and did that by consistently picking the favored side of the course and staying in the velocity.
Sunday’s forecast called for more inclement weather. Winds were in the 8 to 10 knots range for race one and continued to build to 12 to 15 knots for the last two races. Amazingly, the sun held and the inclement weather stayed offshore, so the fleet was able get the entire weekend’s racing in without a single drop of rain.
Race two on Sunday was the most exciting race of the weekend with three boats fighting it out for the win. Chris Snow (USA 1018), Bruce Nelson (USA 986) and Steve Hunt (USA 873) were one, two and three at the first mark and fought back and forth for the lead for the entire race. Going down the last leg, all three boats were overlapped in a virtual tie. As they neared the finish line, the most leeward boat, Steve Hunt (USA 874), luffed the other two windward boats. As the boats turned back down to the finish, Steve Hunt was able to get his spinnaker to fill first and got his nose out on the other boats for a photo finish race win.
With four race wins, Steve Hunt (USA 873) was crowned the PCC champ. At the awards ceremony we learned that, even after a three bullet day on Saturday, the regatta was not necessarily in the bag since Steve was up all night with a case of the flu. “I was barely able to hold the tiller straight during Sunday’s races” commented Steve, “I have to give credit to my crew who really carried me through the day on Sunday.”
Steve’s crew consisted of Erik Shampain, a multi world champion Etchells crew, on jib and calling tactics downwind, Matt Pistay was in the middle and Lara Dalman-Weiss trimmed main. Steve also gave credit to his wife, Cris Teena, who did round the clock shore duty caring for their 1.5 year old twin boys.
The second place finisher for the PCC was Bruce Nelson (USA 986). Bruce sailed very consistently with all top four or better finishes. Third place was Argyle Campbell (USA 1375) who was also the race six winner. The Top Corinthian was Don Jesberg (US 1229) from SF Bay. Don won race four and finished in fourth place in the overall scoring. In fifth place was Tom Carruthers (USA 1000).
WCSS Standings after three events:
- Tom Caruthers (USA 1000) 10 pts
- Bruce Nelson (USA 986) 13 pts
- Rodi/Snow (USA 1018) 16 pts
- Sink /Davis (USA 1066) 20 pts
- Steve Hunt (USA 873) 31 pts
Top Corinthian – Charlie Mann (USA 1157)
The final event of the WCSS will be the Orca Bowl on the weekend of May 14-15. Competitors have a throw-out to use, so any of the top five boats have a chance at the series win. The fleet looks forward to a very exciting finale to the WCSS.