Magpie AUS1486 skippered by Graeme Taylor with James Mayo have defended their title in the 2024 Etchells World Championship with crew member Ben Lamb with a classic match race to finish off the series.
Video Wrap of Day
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At the end of the penultimate race, the scores were tied between USA1473 DanEgerous skippered by John Dane III with Eric Doyle and Bill Hardesty, and for the first time a different team was on top of the leaderboard with DanEgerous having more heat wins.
“That is just one of the most epic wins of my life, to be honest. Perth was awesome and to win at home is just like wow, in front of all your mates, your family, having Vic and my dad on the water today, you know, just really special,” said Graeme Taylor.
“John Dane’s a fantastic guy and Bill Hardesty and Eric Doyle, they’re just absolute professionals and they’re doctors of the sport, so we knew we were playing with a pitbull and it was a lot of fun.”
“Lamby did an epic job of just going [saying], this is what we’ve got to do and this is how we’re going to do it, and I’m like, okay. I’m sure they would have done it the same way if they needed to as well”.
“Even though we were even on points, we were super strong mathematically going into that last race, and I guess that’s how you win a world championship in the end, two boats duking it out, seeing what happens,” finished Taylor.
Magpie had a worst discard of 7, while DanEgerous had a discard of 16, meaning that Magpie could not be defeated for second place, but could lose the win. So there was no option, it would come down to a boat on boat battle for the regatta title.
The match racing began from the time the Orange Flag was hoisted (start line on station), five minutes before the warning signal for the race. It continued right until the gun. Magpie started slightly to leeward of DanEgerous, and when John Dane III tacked onto port, Magpie followed, and the teams went well beyond the starboard layline.
“Well, sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield,” commented Bill Hardesty on how the final race unfolded.
“If we had been ahead, it would have been tables turned,” echoed John Dane III, answering what GT had surmised.
“To be tied going in the last race was pretty exciting. These guys did such a great job pulling me through. This guy in particular [Bill Hardesty] yelled at me a lot, but loves me,” joked Dane.
“At my age to be tied going into the last race, at 74 years old, I feel good. These guys were all disappointed. Needless to say, to come so close. But it was a great regatta,”.
John Dane III wins the Senior skipper (highest Placing Skipper over 60 yrs of age) prize as well as the Grandmasters World Championship (150 years combined age).
In the other divisions, in Corinthian and Youth, Lisa Rose AUS1484 were never headed.
“It’s been a massive learning exercise for us and I think we’re all pretty happy with how we sailed today. We went out probably with the lens to keep it simple and just keep improving every day and we love every day we get on the water because we get better,” said Jack Abbott.
“We can’t wait to do more as a team,” said James.
“And, look, we couldn’t be here without Marty, obviously. It’s his boat and he’s been a big support to us. So, helping us just learn as much as we can about the ocean in such a short time,” confirmed Xavier.
“Thanks again to the whole organising committee, all the sponsors, everyone involved, the club. Everyone’s put in so much effort to make this event work and we wouldn’t be here without them. So, we want to extend our thanks to them as part of this as well,” finished Abbott.
In Race 8, while many were watching what would unfold at the top of the overall leaderboard, First Tracks, AUS1485 skippered by Peter “Billy” Merrington, with Ian McKillop and Will Parker were just coming into their stride.
“We waited all week for it,” said Merrington.
“We just actually showed ourselves what we’re capable of if we sailed properly the whole week,” he said of their 1 and 4 on the final day.
“The boys did a great job today,” he continued. “On the first beat we had a huge lead, we got it a little bit wrong on the second beat and they came back to us, but the first top mark was nice to look back and do a bit of spectating. Look at that,” he finished remembering.
Race 8 Live
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It was similar for the Race 9 winners, AMac USA1494 skippered by Andy Beadsworth with XXX.
“It was obviously a good race, nice to win a race,” he commented while packing up. “We’ve had a pretty tough week and it hasn’t really come together but we got off the line, had good pace and no issues in that race at all”.
“They came and caught up a couple times [the fleet] but then we would extend again so just a shame we couldn’t find it earlier in the week,” he lamented.
“It was good to win the race to the crane,” he finished smiling.
Race 9 Live
Link: https://fb.watch/x5MhGK4y0F/
This regatta would not be possible without the support of HillPDA, Vakaros, North Sails, Musto Australasia, the Victorian Government, the organising committee and volunteers, and the Royal Brighton Yacht Club.
The next World Championship for the Etchells class will be held from the San Diego Yacht Club, 10-15 May 2026.
Nicole (Nic) Douglass
Content Manager – Etchells World Championship 2025
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