Etchells San Diego - Fleet 13

Before YouTube and GoPros, there were VHS promo tapes. 📼

Here’s a classic 1988 Etchells Class promotional video—proof that tight racing and great sailors never go out of style.

E22 Promotional Tape - Etchells Class 1988 A promotional video done in San Francisco for the E22 class in 1988.

The 2026 Pacific Coast Championship was decided on tiebreaker after three boats finished tied on 13 points following five races.

1st – Bayou Hustler (USA 1454) – Austin Sperry / Rod Hagebols, Noel Drennan, John Kostecki
2nd – Stark Raving Mad (USA 1477) – Jim Madden / Skip Dieball, Jeff Reynolds, Jeff Eber
3rd – Magpie (AUS 1526) – James Mayo / Peter Merrington, Ben Lamb

1st Corinthian – Viva (USA 1429) – Don Jesberg, John Bonds, Jeff Wayne
2nd – Second Wind (USA 985) – Will La Dow, Jake LaDow, Alex Curtiss, Paula Schmid
3rd – Team Shred (USA 1452) – Oliver Toole, Mateo Vargas, Kara Voss, Justin Doane 📸 Mark Albertazzi

Pacific Coast Championship Day 1

As Eric Doyle said in the debrief:

“It was a classic San Diego day, you had to stay flexible. Tight racing all day”

Top 10 after Day 1:
1. Bayou Hustler – Austin Sperry / Rod Hagebois
2. Magpie – James Mayo / Peter Merrington
3. DanEgerous – John Dane III
4. GoodEnergy – George Hershman
5. Buschido – Chris Busch
6. Warpath – Lauren & Faith Howe / Matt Reynolds
7. Lifted – Jim Cunningham
8. Freedom – D Craig Mense
9. Stark Raving Mad – Jim Madden / Skip Dieball
10. Rock On – Argyle Campbell

Everything still in play heading into Sunday.
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Official calendar. Note, Etchells will not race in SDYC’s March ODW.

Calendar link in bio.

Huge thanks to Bill Hardesty for hosting the Day 1 Bill Bennett debrief, and to Ben Mitchell and River Paquin for sharing takeaways from a successful day on the water. So much value in hearing from the front of the fleet.

Top 5 — Bill Bennett Cup (Day 1 Results)
1. Buschido — Chris Busch
2. Lifted — Jim Cunningham
3. Stark Raving Mad — Jim Madden / Skip Dieball
4. Side Piece — River Paquin
5. Magpie — James Mayo / Richard Clarke
Photos:

Vakaros Firmware & GPS update for Billy Bennett Cup (Jan 17 & 18)

All Atlas units will need both firmware AND GPS updates for this weekend. Firmware must be v28.4 AND GPS v1.6 in order to connect. Also, please make sure your Annual Pass is up-to-date! GPS and Pass updates take much longer, so waiting until check-in to take care of this will cause longer lines and delays on Saturday morning. All updates are managed through your Vakaros Connect Phone App.

Please help spread the word to the fleet! RC can only update one device at a time during checkin, and having two updates per device will really slow things down. Vakaros is also starting to 'crack down' on invalid annual/monthly passes, so now's a good time to update those, as well.

Looking forward to a great weekend of racing!!!