Race Report Appalachian 2 | Etchells Class Series | 25th January 2026

Race two of the day was the second race in the Appalachian series. The easterly breeze steadied a little with fewer big shifts and dropped to around 10 kts. The course was 303: HH-SKW-E1-SKW-DB again.

Racer Smithy (Mark Thornburrow) won the start from the committee boat end, picking off the Youth Team (helmed by Oriane Voets) in the new Youth Boat (Bambou) sailing under Sail Number 555.

Racer Smithy, followed closely by Gunga Din (helmed by Ida Cheung), immediately went right as it appeared to have paid in the first race. But everyone who did this lost out, as the pressure uncharacteristically dropped, close to the wall.

Gunga Din made up some positions on the first downwind leg. At the mark, Rookie (Nico Nicoletti) made some cheerful attempts at verbal assertiveness, but then wisely gave room to Gunga Din, who had in fact established an overlap.

The breeze picked up again for the final downwind leg. Racer Smithy locked in the win early, followed by Madness (Charlie Manzoni) half a minute later. However, the competition for third place remained wide open until the final seconds, amid heavy commercial traffic. Gunga Din started in third place ahead of Good Thing (Matthew Phillips) and Diva Deux (Mark Yeadon) in a dead run down the middle. Halfway through, Good Thing decided to change strategy and go left, while Diva Deux did the same on the right. The gamble paid off for Good Thing, who took third place a few seconds ahead of Gunga Din, with Diva Deux coming fifth. Training boat Five5Five (Rene Theil & Team) took a very respectable sixth.