Keeping it cool

Ante Razmilovic explains how key decisions in a nail-biting final race saw him become Etchells World Champion…..

Hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Etchells World Championship saw 42 boats from nine nations compete in a closely fought nine-race series that was dominated by high pressure and strong tides.

From their opening score of 35th in race one, Ante Razmilovic’s Swedish Blue (GBR 1438) seemed an unlikely winner, despite having previously been in close contention for the Worlds title. But with the shifty winds and an extremely high calibre of talent in this competitive one-design fleet, made for a high scoring regatta, and by the final race a tenth place was enough to secure for Ante and crew - Noel ‘Nitro’ Drennan and Brian Hammersley - to secure the title.

But it was no easy ride. With two races earlier that day in 12-14 knots, the shifty northerly had dropped to just 5-6 knots for the start of the final race, with a building cross tide. Ante knew they needed to finish within nine places of Anatole Masfen’s New Order (NZL 1499), but frustratingly they lost touch with their rivals just before the start, finding themselves atp at opposite ends of the line.

Ante takes up the tale: “It wasn’t a good start. We started towards the committee, but the guys underneath us were black flagged. We took the right hand side of the course and were looking like we were either in the top three or in the last five. At windward mark, the Kiwis were third, but we were no better than 20th so not in good shape. But the fleet was compressed and so there wasn’t a lot of distance between the lead five boats and where we were.”

Next came a couple of key decisions that ultimately put them where they needed to be, as Ante explains: “We elected to gybe at the spreader mark, mainly to get away from the pack in front of us; there was a little bit more pressure on our side as we gybed over and we worked our way up to about seventh or eighth pretty quickly. It was pretty tight down the first run on points and fortunately we were pretty rapid downhill. So we just hung on, didn’t do anything too fancy, and made sure we had a clean rounding at the bottom gate where we took another three or four boats.”

That was crucial. Now, heading upwind within touching distance of their rivals, the Kiwis came back in from the left and still just held the advantage on the cross. But by the finish, Ante and his team had overhauled them to win in style. Delighted, Ante expressed his relief at victory in a class where he says, “the margins are really thin”.

“Overall, it was a really tricky week. We started with a 35th and people like Lawrie Smith (GBR), Peter Duncan (USA), and Stephen Benjamin (USA), everybody scored pretty big points, so it was tricky tactically in all of the races, particularly some of the lighter air races, but in keelboat racing, boat speed is always king.”

A thorough wash down is top of the list when preparing your boat for winter. How can boat owners ensure they are washing down responsibly?

The best option is to find a ‘bunded’ washdown facility. These trap any waste and filter out any chemicals (and invasive species!) before clean water is returned to the sea. Marinas and boatyards with bunded washdowns can be found via The Green Blue facilities map: thegreenblue.org.uk

What sorts of products would you recommend using to protect your boat? Are there any precautions you should take?

Traditional biocidal coatings that wear away through the year are the most damaging to the environment. Multi-year coatings that either have low rates of loss, such as CopperCoat, or are slippery rather than poisonous, such as Hempel Silic One, are far better for the environment and require less maintenance. However, the up-front costs are higher, as professional application is most e§ective, and you may need to spend time and money preparing the boat prior to application. New products are coming to the market in the

All new boats have to have holding tanks fitted to prevent blackwater discharge. Should owners consider retro-fitting one?

Ideally boaters should use a holding tank. Most of us don’t get far enough o§shore during a weekend to safely pump out at sea, and we should in any case be minimising pollution. The real challenge is finding a pump out facility. The Green Blue lists these on its facilities map (link above).

What else should sailors think about now that will help ensure a more sustainable approach to sailing in 2023?

Research your planned destinations and check if there are any changes such as voluntary no anchor zones that are being put in place to protect remaining seagrass and other sensitive habitats. Service your engine to make sure it is running at its most e¨cient. Make sure that your water tank is cleaned and any filters replaced to make sure you are happy to use it when on board, rather than taking plastic bottles of water with you.

When cleaning ready for the season, use eco-friendly cleaning products. There are special boat cleaners on The Green Blue Business Directory, thegreenblue. org.uk/green-blue-business-directory/products/, or you can use normal household eco-products such as Ecover and Bio-D.

There are plenty more steps that sailors can take! Find out more and sign up for The Green Blue Pledge via thegreenblue.org.uk