Rob BROWN - All Round Good Guy

Lining up this weekend in a fleet of 62 Etchells against some of the best one-design sailors this side of the equator including Kiwi Cameron APPLETON and Australian’s John BERTRAND and Mark BRADFORD is class debutante Rob BROWN.

Brown has extraordinary sailing history both domestically and internationally. Triple World Champion, America’s Cup competitor, international ocean racing champion and Olympic Games contender. Lately he has spent a lot of time as tactician for one-design ocean racing yachts. This weekend’s Saint Malo Etchells Australian Winter Championship is the start of Brown’s campaign to contest the 2004 Etchells World Championship off Mooloolaba in July 2004.

“It is great to be back on the helm doing some close fleet racing. This weekend’s fleet will be larger than I have been racing in recently but that won’t faze me. I will be looking for clean starts and some favorable wind shifts in the expected light winds.

This is a top quality group of sailors here. There is camaraderie on the shore but I expect plenty of challenges on the water” Brown reported.

The 2003 Saint Malo Etchells Australian Winter Championship will be contested over the next four days with eight races. The weekend forecast is for clear skies, south-west to south-east breezes at around 10-15 knots with a low swell. Good tactics and good starts will be vital for all crews contesting the titles this weekend.