Nowhere in the world do they regard the Etchells 22 with as much reverence as they do in Australia. And nowhere in Australia is the sailing as demanding as it can be at Fantastic Freo, otherwise Fremantle at Perth on the far west coast.

The hard cases still reckon that the breezy 1987 America’s Cup in 12 Metres at Perth - when Dennis Conner took back the trophy so painfully lost at Newport RI in 1983 – was the greatest AC ever staged. So when the open waters off Fremantle were selected as the venue for the 2024 Etchells 22 Worlds this past week, it became stadium stuff, with a hyper-competitive fleet allowing for both Open and Corinthian Divisions.

The overall winner was Magpie, sailed by three pros who between them now have three Etchells Worlds in the notch-post. Crewmen James Mayo and Richard Allinson took it in 1999 and 2019 respectively, but helmsman Graeme Taylor was out of the loop until this year.

His 2024 Etchells 22 overall win was not only some consolation for being right in the midst of that soul-destroying loss of line honours for Andoo by 30 seconds at the end of the Sydney-Hobart Race in December, but he also could see the legendary Lawrie Smith tucked in well astern at fourth overall.

With racing at this level, the proper inclusion of a Corinthian Division is essential, and ex-Pat Jamie McWilliam of Royal Hong Kong YC made good use of it to get his place on the podium with the Bronze.

Royal Cork Yacht Club ex-pat Jamie McWilliam has finished ninth overall, just one place behind America's Cup legend John Bertrand at the 2020 Etchells Victoria Championships in Australia.

Big boat sailor McWilliam, a regular visitor to Ireland in his Ker 40 Signal 8 last competed here at Dun Laoghaire Regatta in July 2019.

Once a thriving one design in Ireland, especially at Howth, where the 2010 World Championships was staged, the Irish Etchells fleet has since died away.

The reigning Etchells World Champions, Iain Murray, Colin Beashel and Richie Allanson secured the 2020 Victorian title with a race to spare. After placing second and sixth in the first two races of the day, they headed back to the Royal Brighton Yacht Club to put Havoc back on her trailer for the journey to Sydney.

Finishing in second place overall was Magpie, which is crewed by Graeme Taylor, James Mayo, and Tom Slingsby. They were three points astern of the leaders in the end, whose worst result for the regatta was a sixth place. Interestingly, Magpie's worst was a fourth, it is just that they did not have the string of bullets (firsts) to match Havoc. Chris Hampton, Charlie Cumbley, and Jamie Lea on Tango finished in third place, some nine points further back. Cumbley and Lea also travelled the farthest to be part of it all, from the UK, with others coming from Thailand, and the East Coast of Australia to be part of this vibrant class.

John Bertrand had his new Triad 2020 out racing with Grant Crowle in for Noel Drennan, and Jake Lilley on the bow. They secured two individual race wins, including the last of the nice race series, to finish in eighth place overall, which shows you just how tough it is at this end of the fleet. "Long time in between drinks in this fleet at the moment", was how Bertrand put it. "It is also a good thing too."

"It is all building up to the World Championship in Fremantle, it is clear that the fleet is getting very focussed. Magpie just returned from winning the Mid-Winters in Miami, and then they're second here in this extremely intense racing. It all shows the calibre of the fleet here in Australia. The class is healthy and the top One Design tactical racing in the country. It is just incredible to be involved and the sailors and sailing is impressive, particularly the young people coming through, and it is terrific for our sport on the whole."

Reflecting on the new shorter race format, PRO Ross Wilson said, "I was a little bit concerned when we discussed with the organisers a few weeks ago, as to whether it would work. However, the feedback has been really positive. We targeted 45 minutes, and had all the races fall between 41 and 50, with the majority at 45 to 46. I am not sure if it would work with fleets over 35 boats, as you need to compensate for the longer start line, but this was brilliant for our fleet of 25 here."

Final top ten
1. Iain Murray / Richard Allanson / Colin Beashel, 19 points
2. Graeme Taylor / James Mayo / Tom Slingsby, 22
3. Chris Hampton / Charlie Cumbley / Jamie Lea, 31
4. Mark Thornburrow / Alexander Conway / Mike Huang / Malcolm Page, 38
5. David Clark / Raymond Smith / Ben O'Brien, 44
6. Kirwan Robb / Rodney Muller / Brett Taylor, 46
7. Jeanne-Claude Strong / Kate Devereux / Seve Jarvin / Troy Tindal, 48
8. John Bertrand / Jake Lilley / Grant Crowle, 51
9. Jamie Mcwilliam / Willy Roberts / Gray Gibson, 73
10. Damien King / Jeremy O'Connell / Eliza Solly / Tom Klemens, 79

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Jamie McWilliam has won Hong Kong's Around the Island Race.

It was a day of varied conditions for the 2017 Turkish Airlines Around the Island Race with everything from 2 to 28kts of easterly breeze being reported across the race track. Approximately 1,400 people on 230 boats and even two lifejacket-- clad dogs took part in this year's 26nm circumnavigation.

The big winners of the day were ex-pat Jamie McWilliam now based in Hon Kong with his crew Simon Macdonald and Peter Austin onboard the EtchellsShrub, they crossed the finish line at 14h 19m 07s to take the overall win with a corrected time of 4h 59m 02s.

It took two start lines located off of Causeway Bay and Hung Hom and 22 consecutive starts to get the fleet away. There were boat breaking conditions right off of the start with the first casualty of the day headed back to the club by 0830hrs due to a broken mast and boom. The fleet tacked their way up the starboard side of the Hong Kong Harbour course, avoiding exclusion zones and Hong Kong's busy marine traffic and through Lei Yue Mun gap.

Once the fleet reached Shek O rock they met with big swells of 2 to 3m, which proved difficult for some of the smaller fleets. Persevering on was the first Para athlete to compete in the Around the Island Race; Foo Yuen-Wai representing Sailability Hong Kong on board a 2.4mR, the smallest boat in the fleet The Kaplan, not only is Foo the first Para athlete to compete, he is also the first one to sail single- handed. Foo completed the race and sailed across the line at 16h 11m 24s.

Another first was Sean Law on board S M Kwan and Thomas Wong's Sunfast 3600 Ding Dong Sean who is just 77 days old did his first Around the Island Race with mother and father Sally and Dominick.

Kites were hoisted after the fleet rounded D'Aguilar point with gusts up to 28kts. There were a few exciting broaches and resulting in a few more retirements. However, with the large swell running along the Sheung Sze Mun channel, some boats were fully launched and able to surf in on the run towards Stanley Gate.

The swell tapered off as did the breeze, as the fleet approached Round Island. A park up ensued off the Cyberport Gate, where supporting sponsors St. James's Place were waiting to greet the fleet on a spectator yacht. Once the fleet rounded Green Island the breeze increased a little but there were still a few holes along the harbor. First to make the circumnavigation was Bruce Anson and Wei Jie's Discover Sail Asia an RC44 with an elapsed time of 4h 19m 21s.