Etchells Fleet 25
LCYC is the home of Etchells Fleet 25. The fleet was chartered by the International Etchells Class Association on August 23, 2000 starting with 4 boats and has grown to a total of more than a dozen boats, 13 of which are located at LCYC.
The Fleet has its own Etchells start as part of the club's weekly Wednesday night series. The season's racing also features a one design series which runs on alternating Mondays, plus one or 2 weekend days, during the summer in which we get try to get off 2 to 4 races per day.
The Kelemen Cup is awarded to the overall season champion based on a combination of Wednesday night and One Design series results.
The fleet also participates in a number of LCYC's weekend PHRF events, most notably the 125 year old Ladies Cup event at which the top Etchells finisher is awarded the Hal Grieg trophy. Etchells USA 1300 (Ernie Pomerleau), Pied Piper (Dave Powlison/John Harris) and Senior Moment (Don Brush/Bob Schumacher) have also won the overall Ladies Cup title in 2012, 2013 and 2015 respectively.
In addition to the regular LCYC race schedule, the Fleet has hosted regional Etchells regattas from time to time, including the 2007 Etchells New England Championship which attracted 30+ boats from across the eastern US and Canada. Some Fleet members participate in regattas off the lake including various events in northeastern North America, the Etchells NA Championships, the Etchells Worlds and the Jaguar Cup Series in Miami each winter.
Beyond its racing activities, the Fleet has routinely hosted Rules Seminars with Andy Horton for the entire Lake Champlain racing community, tuning clinics with Jud Smith and Andy Horton, Junior Sailing days and participated in the annual LCYC Boat Tour. Socially, we have post race Pizza after many of our One Design race nights and participate in the bi-weekly Wednesday night "Burger Burns" throughout the summer. The Fleet also hosts one of the club's Burger Burns each season.
Today Etchells Fleet 25 is arguably the largest (in terms of # of sailors) as well as the most vital and competitive one-design fleet on Lake Champlain, attracting most of the top local sailors as either skippers or crew. The fleet is very competitive from top to bottom with 90% of the fleet winning at least one race in the 2014 season and the 2014 season championship coming down to a closely fought one on one battle on the final beat of the final race between Senior Moment and Pied Piper. In 2015 the season championship again came down the final leg of the final race of the season, this time between USA1300 and Pied Piper. This level of competitiveness across the fleet is a credit to the effort existing fleet members make to get new members up the learning curve as quickly as possible.
If you would like to get in on the fun, as either crew or a boat owner, contact Fleet Captain John Harris at vtlasersailor@gmail.com
To get more information about our fleet, click the links below.
