Two bullets for Hardesty

Another US team moves to the front after day two of the Etchells Worlds in Chicago

Bill Hardesty, Erik Shampain, Steve Hunt and Jennifer Wilson dominated day two of the Etchells World Championship with bullets in both of today’s races. The San Diego team’s 7th yesterday combined with their two wins today places them in 1st overall after Day 2 of the 2008 Etchells World Championships, hosted by Chicago Yacht Club and presented by World Sport Chicago. Vincent Brun, Ben Mitchell and Jeff Pape follow close behind in 2nd overall with an impressively consistent 4, 5, 5 despite the often tricky conditions in the event so far.

Today’s racing started at 13:00 in light ESE winds following an onshore postponement as the race committee waited for the breeze to fill. Two races of roughly two hours each were sailed in 5-10 knot winds.

Consistency paid off for the events two leading boats, while all those in the standings behind them have at least one finish in the 20s or deeper. Today’s racing led to considerable changes in places for many of the teams. Only four of yesterday’s top ten boats remain in the top ten places today, and most of the other six have fallen back significantly in the standings.

Artie Means, Will Stout, and Chuck Skewes have also put together some consistently solid races this event that would have set them in 3rd in the current standings if not for an OCS they picked up in the last start today that replaces their 10th place finish in that race. This addition to their score puts them in what must be a frustrating 30th for this team overall.

Bill Hardesty, skipper on the leading boat, commented: “It’s tricky out there. We just kept it simple, work to keep the boat speed up, and then you just have to hope that your side works out.”

Their boat started near the pin and played the left side of the course upwind in both races, which paid off for them in the oscillating ESE to SE winds today. Hardesty, 33, enters the Worlds after back to back wins in both the Mid-winters East and Mid-winters West for 2008. In December, Hardesty and his team won the 73-boat Piana Cup and in February, it was Bill Hardesty and his team’s turn again as they sailed with spectacular consistency in the 87 boat Florida State Championship.

The team of Graham Bailey and Steven Bailey, sailing with David Heritage, secured third place in the event so far with a solid 7, 3 in today’s races. There is a close battle behind this team with only 15 points separating 4th from 11th place. Yesterday’s third place boat, Housten and team, is holding on to 4th place, while yesterday’s leaders, Justin Palm, Erik Garr and Hans Pusch, have slipped to 6th.

The Australian team of Peter McNeill, David Gleadhill, and Tom Woods added excitement to the last race of today in a fight for the lead with Hardesty’s team. McNeill, the 2004 World Champion, rounded the first windward mark in the lead with Hardesty close off their hip. They established a significant gap over the rest of the fleet during the course of the race and the tight battle at the front became a match race between the two boats. It was a close fight downwind, but McNeill maintained the lead and rounded the right gate mark in first while Hardesty split and rounded the left gate. Hardesty was able to pass McNeill with a well sailed 2nd upwind beat, and though the two remained close together out in front of the pack, the San Diego team maintained their lead to the finish locking their second bullet of the day.

Hardesty attributes the team’s training to their win over McNeill and their success in both of today’s races. “We’ve been out here a few weeks training hard, getting to know the area, and making sure everyone on the boat is working hard in all conditions.”

Results:
Pl B# Sail # Crew 1 2 3 Tot
1 49 USA979 Bill Hardesty, Erik Shampain, Steve Hunt & Jennifer Wilson 7 1 1 9
2 33 USA1227 Vincent Brun, Ben Mitchell & Jeff Pape 4 5 5 14
3 81 GBR1352 Graham Bailey, Stephen Bailey & David Heritage 24 7 3 34
4 2 USA701 Aaron Housten, Daniel Somers & John Harford 3 30 12 45
5 56 USA1327 Peter Duncan, Thomas Blackwell & William Barton 17 22 10 49
6 28 USA1363 Justin Palm, John Erik Garr & Hans Pusc Pusch 1 17 32 50
7 19 USA1310 Robert Wray, Scott Nixon & Mike Wolfs 37 4 9 50
8 47 USA969 Chris Busch, Chad Hough, Chuck Sinks & Peter Burton 49 2 4 55
9 34 USA1228 Brian Camet, Eric Doyle & Brian Terhaar 22 6 31 59
10 4 NZL1058 Andrew Wills, Anatole Masfen & Alastair Gair 14 8 37 59