Cowes One-Design Classes

Twenty-two of the UK's top young sailors were in Cowes on 18-19 April for the RYA Etchells youth trials to select a team to race a fully funded Etchells in the 2012 Solent season, leading up to the British Nationals in September.

The Notice of Race for the Cowes Dayboat Classes 2012 is now available to view and download.

The 2012 sailing season is about to arrive for the UK Etchells fleet, and the first regatta is this coming weekend, 31 March and 1 April, writes Rob Goddard.

The RYA and UK Etchells Class Association have formed a partnership to support the development of young sailors.

The Etchells fleet is offering an open invitation to sailors to have some fun in these great boats, whether an owner or crew, all sailors will be most welcome to join the fleet at any of our events, writes Rob Goddard.

Etchells hull numbers 1400 and 1401 are now in production, writes Rob Goddard from Cowes, Isle of Wight.

Andrew Millband and the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club race committee organised three excellent races on Saturday, and a further two on Sunday, (17-18 September) adding to last week's session of only three races due to high winds.

The first weekend of the Etchells UK National Championships in the Solent saw the race committee manage to get three good races away before Sunday's high winds called a halt.

What have chickens and a trampoline got to do with not sailing an Etchells?!

The 2011 Etchells UK National and Open Championships NoR and entry form are now published and available to download on www.etchellsukfleet.co.uk, writes Rob Goddard.

The UK Etchells National Championships, which promise to be an exciting, well contested event in Cowes, run over the weekends of 10-11 and 17-18 September and count towards qualifying for the Sydney 2012 Worlds.

A small, enthusiastic fleet of 11 Etchells enjoyed fabulous racing at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, with strong winds accompanied by mostly sunny and warm conditions, and, as ever, with the fleet circulating in close company.

The pub and dockside chat about this year's Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week could well be assumed to be about rock star sailors, celebrities, and million pound maxi racing yachts turning up.

With Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week about to start, Etchells sailor Laurence Mead has written a set of useful crew manoeuvre crib sheets for each of the main mark roundings for a crew of three people.

With the Solent Etchells fleet lined up for its first 2012 Worlds qualifier over the weekend of 16-17 July there was a clear hope that those who do qualify for the Sydney event in February 2012 will find the Worlds a windy affair...

The latest in the series of Shaun Frohlich's Exabyte boats is an Etchells, and Exabyte V is currently being prepared at David Heritage's yard and will soon be racing from Cowes, writes Rob Goddard.

The Daring Class is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and on 9 July, the anniversary of the first Daring race, the fleet took part in a sail past and salute in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron.

The Solent gave another pasting to the Etchells fleet over the weekend of 18-19 June as they fought over the Bedrock Trophy, donated by double Etchells World Champion Stuart Childerley.

The X One-Design Class has its centenary this year and to celebrate we've got a superb collection of XOD photographs taken by Hamo Thornycroft of Cowes.

The XOD Class is to launch its Centenary celebrations with an Edwardian Race Day in Lymington on Friday, 3 June.

The X One-Design (XOD) Class has announced Aberdeen Asset Management as its new title sponsor in this, its Centenary year.

The Cowes Clubs and Classes Association (CCCA) has announced the support of Talisker in sponsoring all the weekend dayboat regattas at Cowes from April to October in 2011 and 2012.

John Bertrand maintained his lead in the Etchells Worlds fleet on Thursday, 26 August, with another race win, giving him four race wins out of six races sailed.

John Bertrand of Royal Brighton YC in Melbourne gave a masterclass on the waters off Howth to win both races in Wednesday's Etchells Worlds and opened up a significant lead over main rival Cowes-based Ante Razmilovic.

Ante Razmilovic from the Cowes Etchells fleet is currently leading the 43 entries in the Etchells World Championships which started at Howth, Ireland on Monday, 23 August.

Stuart Jardine, known as 'the man to beat' in the extremely competitive 88-strong XOD fleet, had to retire earlier this week with a sailing injury, writes Sue Pelling/CWL.

The strength of the XOD Class continues with a bigger than ever entry to Cowes Week!

For the first time in 99 years, XODs were seen racing off Hythe in Southampton Water over the weekend of 17 and 18 July.

The Etchells fleet in Cowes and Hamble are inviting sailors to come and try a sail on the 30 foot keelboat on Saturday, 3 July.

The XOD was designed by Alfred Westmacott in 1909, the first race took place in 1911, and the 100th anniversary of the Class will be celebrated in 2011 with a number of centenary events.

This summer Cowes and the Isle of Wight will play host to a festival of Dragon sailing with no less than five great Dragon events on offer.

Tension filled the air even before the crews gathering for the second weekend of the Etchells National Championships had come together on the dock on Saturday, 17 October, writes Cowes Fleet Captain Laurence Mead.

The second weekend of the Etchells National Championships, and the final weekend of the Cowes Keelboat Solent Series was cut short by light winds on Sunday, but Cowes TV's cameras were on the water to bring you all the action from Saturday.

The dates for the 2010 Edinburgh Cup and South Coast Championship, to be raced from Cowes, Isle of Wight, have been confirmed and the Solent Fleet are pulling out all the stops to make it a great event.

In what's probably the last National Championship of the UK sailing season, a small but competitive fleet of 19 Etchells came to the start line on 10 October for a two weekend eight race series, writes Cowes Fleet Captain Laurence Mead.

The first part of the Etchells National Championship got underway this weekend in great conditions on Saturday, and Cowes TV brings you all the action as well as coverage from the penultimate round of the Cowes Keelboat Solent Series.

Seven Etchells from the Cowes fleet had a wonderful weekend's racing in the Solent on 12-13 September, sailing in the Red Funnel series for one-design keelboats, writes Laurence Mead.

Gary Player is credited with saying: "The harder I work the luckier I get" and, whilst some of the saying was true at last weekend’s Etchells Solent racing for the Bedrock Trophy, it was only the first part, writes Class Captain Laurence Mead.

The XOD has once again notched up the largest fleet here at Cowes Week with a total of 79 entries, writes Sue Pelling/CWL.