ETCHELLS BISCAYNE BAY SERIES: LOUIS PIANA CUP

Podium Sweep in Miami

The opening regatta of the Biscayne Bay Series served up tricky conditions for a fleet of 50 Etchells, a larger fleet than previous years. North Sails were onboard 8 of the top 10 finishers, as well as 12 of the 14 Corinthian teams. Congratulations to Peter Vessella, first place in the Corinthian division.

5-10 knot breezes allowed for four races over two days. The winning team on Steve Benjamin’s Stella Blue combined clean starts with excellent boat speed to control their own destiny. “Only Benj’s team and Scott Kaufman’s team had all single digit finishes,” Skip Dieball explains. “It’s such a tough fleet, and if you get off the line in bad shape, chances are you’re going to have a high number. It’s very difficult to get back.”

The FR-2 is an evolution of the Full Radial, but with some long overdue tweaks to shape and panel orientation. It is a fantastic sail.

Conditions were perfect for the PCF-M mainsail, LM-2L jib, and VMG spinnaker, but Skip’s team did test out the new FR-2 spinnaker for the last race and were quite impressed. “Ultimately, this new FR-2 will replace our Full Radial spinnaker,” he says.”The FR-2 is an evolution of the Full Radial, but with some long overdue tweaks to shape and panel orientation. It is a fantastic sail. We also looked at the new LM-6R and MAL jibs in our practice sessions. Both are beautiful out of the box and set up perfectly. We will be updating our tuning guide for 2020 and will have all of our trim notes regarding these sails.”

North Scoreboard

Overall – 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Corinthian – 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Etchells next stop – The Sid Doren Regatta January 11-12.