The Boat by Sted Beckwith

With its long overhangs, narrow beam and classic lines the Etchells is truly one of the most beautiful one designs. The Etchells is a fast, stable, sleek racing sloop that can be sailed competitively and comfortably by three average sailors. It can tack in an amazing 70 degrees and it has a low wetted surface hull that keeps it moving in the slightest breeze and in over 20 knots it absolutely flies.

The class association keeps very rigid control of construction and any modifications. At major sanctioned regattas you must put your boat through a rigid measurement process. 

This very strict one design principal keeps the boats competitive and allows them to keep their value as even older boats remain competitive. 

To keep the costs of maintaining a competitive boat down, the number of sails you may purchase in any one year is restricted by the class association.

An Etchells has no cumbersome winches. Every line is controlled by lines and blocks under the deck. Many boats have both course and fine tunes on the back stay, jib sheets, jib halyard, and main sheet.  This allows for ease of sail adjustment and allows very accurate fine tuning. In addition there is a myriad or other sail tuning devices. All these devices make the boat very interesting and fun to race, which is probably why most sail makers, America’s Cup sailors and other world class sailors make this boat their own fun racing one design.

Even though it is 30’6” long it is very easy to handle and can be sailed by all ages from your teens to your seventies and beyond. Unlike many, even much smaller boats that require 4, 5 or 6 people to competitively race, three people can easily race an Etchells ( 4 are allowed.) Don’t get me wrong, this class in one of the most competitive classes in the world. At most any major sanctioned regattas, you will be racing against some of the best sailors in the world including many current and past America’s Cup sailors. On the other hand most average racers can do quite well on the Fleet level.

In addition to fleets all over the United States there are fleets in Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Italy, and New Zealand. You will most always have an active fleet nearby and, if you like to travel to regattas for variety, there are winter regattas in Miami and you can work you way back up the Atlantic Coast in the spring with regattas at Oriental, N.C., Annapolis Nood, Newport etc. Boat storage is usually available until the next regatta and you will find Etchells sailors very friendly and always helpful.

Come join us in Fleet 4 for fun and exciting racing. See list of boats for sale in the Boats For Sale section. If you want to get your feet wet first, enter your name in the crew available page. Marblehead Fleet 4 races most every Saturday spring, summer and fall. One of the highlights of the season is Marblehead Race Week. Call or email any member for more information.

-Sted Beckwith

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