2002 ETCHELLS NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sept. 4-7, Alamitos Bay Yacht Cub,
Long Beach, Calif.
Sept. 2, 2002 For Immediate Release
CONNER DEFENDS ETCHELLS N.A. TITLE
AT LONG BEACH
 |
| Canada's Dirk Kneulman (center),
the 1998 Etchells Worlds champion, with crew Dwayne Smithers
(left) and Colin Guthrie. Kneulman has built about three-fourths
of the boats competing in the 2002 North American Championships
at Long Beach. |
LONG BEACH, Calif.---The event is the
2002 Etchells North American Championships Wednesday through
Saturday at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, but the entry list
of 35 boats includes competitors from Europe and Asia and
one who will soon be taking up temporary residence in New
Zealand.
Dennis Conner, whose home is 100 miles
south in San Diego, will defend the title he won last year
at Holland, Mich., then will join his America's Cup team in
the last weeks of preparation for the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers
trials for the America's Cup. Conner won the world championship
in 1991 and '94.
He will be sailing, incidentally, in
the same waters where his newest AC boat, USA 77, sank in
55 feet two months earlier. That boat was recovered the same
day and is being repaired in Auckland.
Also competing will be Mark Thornburrow
and Tim Parsons of Hong Kong, Harald Orneberg of England,
'98 world champion Dirk Kneulman of Canada and two-time North
American champion Jud Smith of Marblehead, Mass., who also
finished second in two Etchells Worlds.
Seven races are scheduled---one Wednesday
and two each Thursday through Saturday---on a choice of windward-leeward
courses inside and outside the federal breakwater that defines
the Long Beach outer harbor. A boat will discard its worst
score after five races are sailed. A practice race was scheduled
for Tuesday.
The Etchells, conceived in 1966 by the
late E.W. (Skip) Etchells, is a 30 1/2-foot ballasted sloop
sailed by a crew of three or four with a maximum combined
weight of 628 pounds. Originally known as an Etchells 22 because
of its 22-foot waterline, it employs fractional headsails
and spinnakers.
Although Kneulman, 47, is among the
favorites, he will probably take some satisfaction in the
result. He built three-fourths of the boats that will be competing
at his Ontario Yachts plant in Burlington, Ontario, near Toronto.
The class's only other builders are in England and Australia.
 |
| Crew member Scott Smith of Seattle
applies finishing touches to skipper David Champion's
Etchells. |
"They go well in light air---there's
plenty of sail area---and they shine in breeze because of
the ballast ratio," Kneulman said. "The keel is
965 kilos and the hull is 380, so [72 per cent] of the boat
is lead. It just goes like a rocketship when the breeze comes
up."
In 1968 the Etchells contested a similar
boat, the Soling, as a replacement for the 5.5-Meter in the
Olympics. Despite a strong performance, the Soling was selected.
"They picked the right boat,"
Kneulman said. "The Soling is smaller, more maneuverable,
more physical and a lot easier to tow around in those little
back streets of Europe. The Olympics don't make a class, anyway.
It's the people that race it internationally."
Kneulman and anyone else who sailed
in last year's North Americans will never forget the experience.
The first was scheduled on Sept. 11.
"Our first race was scheduled that
morning," Kneulman said. "We left the dock after
hearing word that something had run into the World Trade Center,
but everyone assumed that someone had made a mistake.
"When we got out there we realized
something was wrong. We were in the flight path for Chicago
O'Hare and there was not a plane in the sky. The race committee
collected everybody and towed us in. We had a big meeting
about what we should do---whether we should continue with
the regatta---but everybody was stranded. We were in the middle
of nowhere, so we carried on."
 |
| Mark Thornburrow (kneeling) and
Tim Parsons of Hong Kong check their Etchells from the
bottom up. |
Although the event continued under a
cloud of gloom, Kneulman said the decision was correct.
"You can't let these bastards stop
you from living. It wasn't disrespectful in any way. Everyone
was hit hard. I remember having dinner that night with my
American friends, it's so crystal clear. We had a prayer before
dinner, everyone held hands for a second . . . and next night
we had dinner with DC. Everyone was trying to be normal because
that's all you could do."
A high-pressure canopy over Long Beach
has meant a late-summer heat wave and winds lighter than normal
in recent days. But the forecast is for a low-pressure cell
moving in, bringing the traditional sea breeze and perhaps
even rain.
Photos will be posted on the Alamitos
Bay Yacht Club Web site following each day of racing. High-resolution
photos for print reproduction will be available at the end
of the event.
CHAIRMAN
Chris Ericksen
(562) 434-9956
chris6932@aol.com
PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
cell phone (310) 766-6547
richroberts@compuserve.com
