Looking for a new challenge in your racing?

• Are you sick of sitting on the rail and not feeling involved in the sailing of the boat?
• Struggling to get enough crew together for each race or regatta?
• Are you a single hander missing the comradery of sailing with others?
• Not big enough for a Finn?
• Tired of contorting yourself into a small dinghy?
• Does your body tell you that you are now no longer the athlete you once were?
• Want to sail up wind at 30 degrees – not 45?
• Would like to experience boat on boat racing with close and tense finishes?
• Sick of sailing well all day only to find out someone else’s dodgy handicap puts them ahead of you?
• Want to know your race position during the race?
• Want to sail in a fleet that has great camaraderie, socializing before and after racing?
• Do you want to be part of a fleet that encourages and supports all crews – especially the less experienced and those looking to develop?
• Just looking for a new change?

The answer my friends is an Etchells.

The RQ Etchells fleet provides the solution to all of the above questions.

The Etchells was designed in 1966 by American Skip Etchells as part of a competition to find a 3 man Olympic keel boat. Fortunately, it wasn’t chosen as the Olympic class and it has evolved over the years to be an affordable and modern one design open keel boat.

Originally known as the Etchells 22 due to its 22’ waterline length the boat is 9.3m length overall with a beam of just over 2m. The fixed 1000kg (approx.) fin keel gives a draft of 1.37m. The boats are typically dry sailed resting on a hardstand dolly or road trailer and launched using hoists or cranes generally available at the host clubs.

The Etchells has a crew of 3 or 4 with a maximum crew weight of 285kg which is enforced for official class regattas. With strict one design rules, older boats remain competitive – especially at club and national level.

With shrouds adjustable while sailing, adjustable mast step position, an adjustable forestay length, as well as the usual mast and sail controls, the Etchells offers a degree of technical sailing. It is also rewarding for those that want to take a more athletic approach to their racing, but at the same time is forgiving to those that prefer a more relaxed style. Some of us are just over hard hiking all the way up to the top mark!

With no instrumentation other than a compass, the Etchells gives you the ability to develop your small boat skills without the athleticism of a dinghy class or relying on instruments typical of the larger yachts. You get to know what makes the boat go, when you are fast or slow, and if you don’t know the answers, the fleet members are more than willing to assist.

For those wanting to take their sailing to the next level there are regular regattas around the country. This racing is often against some of the best sailors in the world  including current and past world champions Graeme Taylor, John Bertrand, Iain Murray and Martin Hill. There is also the opportunity to participate in a World Championship every year including the next one in Melbourne in early 2025.

It’s not necessary to aspire to such lofty heights and the RQYS Etchells fleet offers very competitive and close racing week in and week out. It’s not unusual for 3 or 4 boats all to be converging on a mark at the same time and for boats to be finishing within seconds of each other. A days racing generally culminates in the fleet socializing at the hard stand once the boats are craned out and washed down.

There is a solid market of second hand boats at the moment and a good fleet and national level boat can be picked up from as little as $12,000 – $15,000.

Though the Etchells has a reputation outside of the class as an old man’s boat this is not the case (though we do have our fair share of them 😊 ). We have a wide range of ages sailing in the class and we welcome everyone. We currently have a small number of ladies in our Brisbane fleet including one lady owner/skipper and would love to expand these numbers. We see ourselves as an equal opportunity fleet.

If you are interested in finding out more about getting into our fleet either as an owner or crew, reach out through the below email contact or sign up for our eNewsletter. You are welcome to come along to the upcoming ‘try an Etchells day’ on the 31^st August (more on this later) or come and see us over lunch in the bar before racing on a Saturday or at the Etchells hard stand post racing – swapping stories, debating race decisions and rehashing what might have been!

We look forward to welcoming you to the fleet.

For enquiries relating to Etchells

Email: enquiries@etchellsbrisbane.com

Etchells Brisbane: https://etchellsbrisbane.com/

Etchells Australia: https://etchells.org.au/

International Etchells Assn: https:/ /etchells.org/