Etchells World Championship

Ric Crabbe, Protest Committee Chair

Thirty seven Etchells came to Corpus Christi, Texas, this week to race in near-perfect winds for the World Championship. While serving as a judge at the event I was able to witness an amazing field of competitors, including Olympic gold medalists, former world champions, America's Cup winners, and AYC’s own Jose Fuentes.

Jose and his crew (Evan Aras, Alec Anderson, Wilson Stout) on Caramba had been working hard with impressive performances in the lead up regattas, including a top ten finish in the pre-worlds and a second in La Regatta Que No Importa. Jose and crew carried this momentum into the first day of the main event with superior boat speed and solid tactics, leading for much of both races and scoring a fifth and a second. At the end of the day they were second overall, behind former world champion and eventual winner Iain Murray. Unfortunately, as the week wore on, Caramba wasn’t quite able to keep up that blistering pace, and ended the week with a still impressive 20th overall.

After 53 years, the Etchells class remains one of the most competitive in the world, and Jose and his crew should be proud of their performance. Fuentes is the co-chair of the 2019 Etchells ACCs, which AYC will host in October.