Game time for Etchells World Champs

Sailors from across the globe are gathering for the 2026 Etchells World Championship to be held May 11-15 in San Diego, CA. Seventy-six teams representing 12 countries make up the fleet in one of the world’s most prestigious one-design championship regattas.

San Diego Yacht Club again hosts the Etchells Worlds as they did in 2000 and 2011, with both winning teams represented this year. 2000-winning crew member Rick Merriman will helm his boat Big E (USA 1452) while 2011 World Champion skipper Bill Hardesty will crew aboard John Dane III’s DanEgerous (USA 1426) and Hardesty’s winning crew Steve Hunt is with Jim Cunningham on Lifted (USA 1504).

The 2023, 2024, and 2025 World Champions will all be in attendance. Team Magpie (AUS 1525), led by James Mayo, will look to complete a hat trick after back-to-back victories in Melbourne and Fremantle. John Sommi returns with his entire 2023 Miami-winning crew: Beccy Anderson, Victor Diaz de Leon, and Will Ryan.

Among the top teams to watch is RayGun (USA 1527) skippered by Olympian Austin Sperry. Last month, Sperry and his crew handily won the Etchells Orca Bowl pre-Worlds regatta, finishing in the top three in all but one of five races, culminating their dominance in the West Coast Spring series. His crew includes fellow Olympian and US Sailing Hall of Fame member John Kostecki and one-design expert and sailing legend Noel Drennan.

Gunning for RayGun will be several strong American and international teams, such as Hong Kong’s Racer Smithy (HKG 1496) owned by Mark Thornburrow, and the Great Britain’s No Dramas (GBR 1490) skippered by Andrew Lawson. Alongside crew members Graham Vials – 2024 Fremantle Top Corinthian Skipper – and Billy Russell, Lawson and No Dramas took the runner-up spot overall in the Orca Bowl and won the Corinthian division.

A new trophy will also debut this year in recognition of the continued growth of female participation in sailing. The trophy, donated by 2000 Etchells World Champion Vince Brun, is a repurposed prize from when he won the 1997 J/24 World Championship, and will be awarded to the top female team at the Etchells World Championship. Two teams — Coyote (USA 1092) and Mostly Harmless (USA 909) — are eligible.

The class also awards a trophy for the top female helm. Along with the all-female teams, two additional teams – Flying Higher (AUS 1518) helmed by Etchells Governor Jeanne-Claude Strong, and Passenger Princess (USA 1217) helmed by Erika Barth – will compete for top female helm honors.

Event information – Race details – Entry list

Source: Kate Somers