Etchells Worlds: Through the Rain and Wind, Hardesty Climbs Back on Top

Newport, RI (June 26, 2014) – Bill Hardesty’s resilience has brought him and his crew of Taylor Canfield, Stephanie Roble and Marcus Eagan to the top of the leader board despite a heavy downpour and fluky winds on the third day of the 2014 Etchells Worlds.

After a two-hour postponement on shore followed by another two hours on the water, storm clouds gathered, the wind velocity increased and the wind direction settled down enough to allow Race 5 to start. Shortly after that, the rain began, so forceful at times the weather mark was obscured.

Those who sailed to the right, toward the squall, faired better and rounded the weather mark in the lead, albeit a bit wetter for their efforts. The wind shifted left throughout the race dropping slightly in velocity. Senet Bischoff and Ben Kinney won Race 5 by a healthy margin with Hardesty finishing fourth, giving him a 9-point lead over Hank Lammens, who finished 16th in today’s race.

Tomorrow’s start time has been moved up 1 hour to maximize what is expected to be a dying northerly breeze. After six races have been completed, each team will be able to discard their worst finish

The nine-race series, hosted by the New York Yacht Club in association with Sail Newport, continues daily through Saturday.

Report by event media.

Preliminary Results after Day Three (Top 10 of 95)
1. Line Honors, Bill Hardesty, USA – 2, 2, 20, 1, 4; 29 points
2. CAN 1396, Hank Lammens, CAN – 1, 8, 1, 12, 16; 38
3. The Martian, Marvin Beckmann, USA – 8, 3, 11, 5, 15; 42
4. Triad, John Bertrand, AUS – 4, 10, 5, 28, 27; 74
5. Swedish Blue, Ante Razmilovic, HKG – 3, 6, 8, 44, 14; 75
6. Aretas, Skip Dieball, USA – 38, 13, 4, 19, 7; 81
7. Annie, Gary Gilbert, USA – 45, 5, 2, 2, 48; 102
8. KGB, Senet Bischoff, USA – 10, 20, 25, 52, 1; 108
9. Terrapin, Stephen Benjamin, USA – 16, 22, 17, 25, 33; 113
10. Appreciation, Jeffrey Siegal, USA – 17, 17, 16, 17, 47; 114

Complete results – Event website

Note: A memorial/celebration of life service for Bill Bennett, who died prior to the Etchells Worlds, will be held on July 1 at the San Diego Yacht Club. There is also an online fund established to help with expenses. Click here for details.