Etchells Fleet Continues to Grow

The 2024 sailing season marked some firsts for the RYC Tuesday night race series.  Our race program was lead by 1st year Race Committee Chair Laura J Shields-Haas, who admirably filled the big shoes of “retired” chair Randy Picklemann. The weather cooperated on nearly every Tuesday evening with consistent breezes  (another 1st!…..unheard of!) and the Fleet enjoyed 38 races over 13 evenings in June, July, August, and September. The Etchells Fleet had 5-6 boats consistently on the starting line and all enjoyed some very spirited one-design. Once the dust had settled, Totalitarian Regime skipped by Jeff Dinse was top boat. 

It appears the rumor mill has it right……the Etchells class is growing! We understand that for the 2025 season, the Tuesday night race series will have as many as  eleven boats on the line. Several new boats have been procured by club members who are already pulling their gear together and getting their teams lined up! And several other boats, from as far as Belfast, are now planning to join the fleet. It seems the excitement is infectious! This is an exciting time for our club to host one design racing on Penobscot Bay.

The current list of 2025 competitors include:

Pigs Ear — Guy Polyblank and Jesse Henry

Ellea—-Todd Schwendeman

Mush —- Graham Fitch

Boogie TYP —Nicole Jacques and JB Turner

Totalaraterian Regime—Jeff Dinse

Take Two— Jeff and Jan Merz

Elvis Tuna— Ben Diamond

No name — John Anderson

No name —Paul Lippmann

Touch of Grey— Russ Moser

Ballerine—Patti Spaulding

Of course, other boats are welcome to sail PHRF, either spinnaker or cruising class.  It's a wonderful way to get out on the water and experience the camaraderie of being on the water with a fun group of people.  No or limited racing experience?   No worries- there will be a lot of opportunities to crew on an Etchells and other boats.  This race season the Etchells Fleet plans to re-establish a post-race barbecue and debrief to help all further their racing knowledge and review the evenings on-water situations. Join the fun during this exciting time in our racing program development!