Meet Andy Cumming, champion for the Corinthians in theEtchells class
During his two-year stint as chairman of the Etchells International Governing Committee, Andrew Cumming was very vocal about promoting Corinthian racing. Actually, Cumming said he began “agitating” about getting more amateur boats to major regattas while serving as a governor on the IGC. The Canadian skipper believes doing so is critical to the future of the nearly 60-year-old class.
Cumming noted that local fleets throughout the world are dwindling in terms of numbers. Etchells fleets in such sailing hotspots as Annapolis, Marblehead and San Francisco had 25 to 30 boats back at one time, but are down to single digits these days.
“I started talking about the Corinthian class about four years ago and it all goes back to the grassroots argument. Where we’re failing as a class is with keeping local fleets active and vital,” Cumming said. “As the local fleets die, the class as a whole is going to die. Having the Corinthian option will fuel the desire for the local fleets to rejuvenate themselves.”
Cumming said the lifeblood of any one-design class involves attracting up-and-coming young sailors who buy an old boat and race locally. As those amateur teams improve, the owners may aspire to compete at the renowned Biscayne Bay Winter Series.
To foster that development, the Etchells class needs to embrace Corinthian competition and make it important at all major regattas. Cumming didn’t like hearing that members of his home fleet in Toronto would not attend the Winter Series because they did not feel they could be competitive.
“Putting a Corinthian structure in place with standings and trophies for each regatta would encourage more amateurs to compete,” he said. “It’s about making Corinthian racing a real thing, making it a class within a class.”
Cumming is pleased the International Governing Committee recognized the value of promoting Corinthian racing and has thrown its full support behind the initiative. It was a strong statement that IGC member Don Jesberg has chosen to compete as a Corinthian. However, there is a long way to go and outreach will be crucial to luring amateur teams to national and international regattas.
Of the 63 boats competing in the AON 2023 Etchells World Championships, 17 are classified as Corinthian. Many of those teams are quite talented and quite capable of competing with the professional boats.
Cumming and his crew aboard Blackadder II (CAN 1451) were the overall Corinthian champions of the Biscayne Bay Winter Series. Cumming was also the top amateur skipper at both the Midwinter and North American championships, placing 17th and 14th, respectively.
Cumming is one of three Biscayne Bay Yacht Club members fielding strong Corinthian programs. Fleet 20 captain Jeff Nehms (Nemesis, USA 1307) and Jeff Dever (Leading Edge, USA 1090) are also strong contenders to capture the Corinthian world championship.
During the third race at North Americans, Dever found himself in the upper half of the fleet in front of some big-time boats.
“I said to my crew: There’s past world champions Marvin Beckmann and Steve Benjamin and we’re ahead of them,” he recalled. “I can’t play golf against Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but I can go sailing against the best in the world — and sometimes I even beat them.”
Dever noted that his Group 1 crew members competed against many of the current Etchells class Group 3 sailors while in college and view them more as “peers than pros.” Cumming joined the Etchells class in 1997 at the age of 37 and competed as an amateur for more than a decade. He got out of the class after having a liver transplant in 2005 then returned in 2013 after fully recovering. He realized the top skippers were all racing with professionals and decided to go that route to see if it led to better results.
Cumming competed in two world championships with former Boston College All-American Brian Kamilar as tactician and two other pros — Will Felder and Nicki Medley — aboard. Blackadder finished third overall in the Biscayne Bay Winter Series during the 2018-19 season, marking “the pinnacle of my career,” Cumming said.
Sailing with a fully professional crew, Cumming finished 50th out of 100 boats at the 2014 Worlds out of Newport, Rhode Island and 18th of 36 boats at the 2019 Worlds held in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“I was mid-fleet even with pros and just could no longer justify the expense. It got to the point where a weekend regatta cost $25,000,” said Cumming, who made the decision to return to amateur status going into the 2022-2023 season.
No longer sailing with pros has taken Cumming back to his early days in the class when he was responsible for boat setup, sail selection and every other aspect of regatta preparation. “I think sailing Corinthian changes the game for the owner-driver because you are now a complete sailor again; You need to know where the shrouds are spun to; need to know which mainsail you are going to use,” he said. “When I was sailing with pros, I was in the back of the boat steering; That’s all I was allowed to do. The pros handled everything else. I’ve had to retrain myself after becoming pro dependent.”
Cumming has also discovered that racing as a Corinthian has dramatically increased the “fun” quotient.
“You haven’t spent all this money so you’re not disappointed with being mid-fleet. When you come as a Corinthian you are enjoying the social aspect more and not feeling pressure,” he said.
Cumming has set a goal of one day having a 50-50 split between professional and amateur teams at Winter Series regattas. There were 15 Corinthian boats racing at North Americans. It is huge that professional skippers and crew are willing to help the amateur teams in any way possible.
Treating Corinthian competitors with respect and presenting trophies to the top performers in that subclass is key to changing the culture and encouraging more owners from local fleets to give the Midwinter, North American or even World championships a try.
“By having a Corinthian class, those skippers can come to major regattas and feel they are racing against the same caliber of competition. I want owners to understand there is a viable option for coming and racing in these premier events,” Cumming said. “We’re just getting this going. We need to keep pushing this initiative and promote the fact the class is supporting Corinthian sailing as a subclass.
“We need to get the story back to the local fleets that there is this Corinthian option and to come down and get involved with the Winter Series.”
