Etchells Europeans

20 boats turn out in Antibes for the Bugatti sponsorsed event held in November

For the first time the Etchells Europeans were held in Antibes, South of France. This international regatta was held over three days, from November 20th to 23rd and twenty crews from Australia, Great Britain, Italy and France attended.

During these three days the weather allowed the organisers to run seven races in an East-North-East wind ranging from 15 to 25 knots, a strong swell and two-meter waves.

The race committee, presided by Michel Briand from La Rochelle, had prepared nice match racing course with dog legs starting just under Antibes rampart.

The Etchells organisation, managed in France by Jean-Christophe Demarchelier, was supported by an SNSM security vessel and by the Antibes Yacht Club who has been offering its infrastructure, committee boats and a team of over fifty volunteers. Races were closely monitored by an international Jury presided by Mr Grosgogeat from Grenoble.

The three days of racing ended in a joyful prize giving during which the British crew skippered by Ant Razmilovic on Swedish Blue were presented with first place. The two French crews ranked 6th on Fort Sail skipped by Nicolas Charbonnier, and 10th on Femme Fatale skipped by Sebastien Canard.

The competitors have been enthusiastic about the sailing area, the warm welcome and the outstanding organisation, they promised to come back for another regatta in the future and maybe for the Etchells world championship planned in 2007.

Results:

			Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Points	Total
1	GBR  1251	SWEDISH BLUE	RAZMILOVIC Ante	1	3	1	1	2	1	1	10	7
2	GBR  1021	BUSHFIRE	TILLY Jerish	4	6	2	6	1	2	2	23	17
3	GBR   804	WHITE ON WHITE	MCNELL Willy	3	1	5	3	13	5	3	33	20
4	AUS  1271	PACESETTER	SIMONESCHI Riccardo	6	4	3	2	3	3	5	26	20
5	GBR  1110	FESTINA	TILL Mike	2	7	4	4	7	4	21	49	28
6	FRA   996	FORT SAIL	CHARBONNIER Nicolas	5	2	8	7	9	7	6	44	35
7	GBR  1194	DESPERATE	DRAKE Robert	7	14	21	5	6	9	4	66	45
8	GBR  1172	ICING ON THE CAKE	SKINNER Geoffrey	10	8	10	8	4	8	7	55	45
9	GBR  1175	DARLING S	ES FORT O.B.E	8	9	7	9	5	12	9	59	47
10	FRA    78	FEMME FATALE	CANARD SEBASTIEN	12	5	11	11	8	6	10	63	51
11	MON   836	ARABELLA	SIMON Jean Laurent	9	12	6	14	10	11	21	83	62
12	ITA  1037	PAOLA	POLI Gianluca	11	11	9	12	11	21	11	86	65
13	ITA   260	VLAG	CIMAROSTI Marco	14	10	14	15	16	14	12	95	79
14	ITA   854	THE ASHES	RIGHI Roberto	13	13	13	16	15	21	14	105	84
15	FRA   460	ONDINE	MOTTA Raffaella	16	15	12	17	14	15	13	102	85
16	FRA   942	GROWLER	STEELE Bill	21	21	21	10	21	10	8	112	91
17	GBR  1014	PALAVER	THOMPSON Ronald	15	21	21	13	12	13	21	116	95
18	GBR   843	THE BUCCANEER	PLATT Nick	17	16	21	18	17	16	21	126	105
19	ITA   841	INDIGO	HELLER Thomas	21	21	21	19	18	17	15	132	111
20	ITA   896	IASC2	PICOLLI Attilio	21	17	21	21	21	21	21	143	122