The 2016 Hobie 16 & 18 North American Championships had it all. From light winds to medium winds. Great parties at the pool and lots of friends telling stories each night of what might have been. Below we have captured all the highlights of the event with some great photos and videos. Enjoy the action in Mexico.
Day 1
The 2016 Hobie 16 & Hobie 18 North American Championships started with some challenging light wind conditions. Only one race was completed. With the only raced in about seven knots. For the first start the sailors where very anxious and it was a General Recall. The second start of the first race was under the U flag and everyone behaved and it was a clear start. Towards the end of the race the wind to under five knots and the boats managed to finish. Jacques Bernier and John Williams got shut out at the finish and ended up mounting the finish pin. They were stuck there for a bit before they could extract themselves and do their penalty.
With the sailors sent back to shore waiting onshore for the breeze to arrive. Unfortunately for the sailors the breeze did not build and remained under five knots for the rest of the day. With the hot conditions the sailors headed for the pool to relax and enjoy themselves. Winds are forecasted to be 10-15 knots tomorrow. Racing continues through Friday.
In the Hobie 16 class Pat and Darcy Porter (USA) lead followed by John and Jennifer Hoag (USA). The Hobie 18 class leaders are Ken Marshack/Valerie Pioszak (USA) followed by Brian and Heather Heffernan (USA). Protest committee is in action so scores are tentative.
Day 2
The forecasted 10-15 knots came early for day 2 of the 2016 Hobie 16 & Hobie 18 North American Championships. Four races were completed with the strongest wind in the early part of the day and gradually eased during the day.
Overnight a significant sea state came up with 3-6 foot waves. This made it difficult for some of the sailors to leave the beach. But all managed to leave successfully. At times there wasn’t quite enough wind for the amount of wave making upwind sailing a challenge. Downwind was all about surfing the waves and Puerto Rican team dominated in these conditions. There is a fleet of anchored shrimp boats on the left side of the course and most of the day the leaders were sailing through the shrimp boat fleet to reach the weather mark.
Some of the Hobie 16 sailors got a little too excited at the starts and there were a few general recalls and few boats breaking the start ending up in them be disqualified. While in the second race Rex Miller port started the fleet. Always a brave move to make in a a competitive fleet.
In the Hobie 16 class Francisco Figueroa and Jolliam Berrios (PUR) lead followed by Jeff Newsome and Michelle Eatough (USA). The Hobie 18 class leaders are Ken Marshack/Valerie Pioszak (USA) followed by Jim and Barbie Doty (USA). Racing continues through Friday.
Day 3
Racing started promptly at 11:00 AM in seven knots of wind. The Hobie 16 class continues with general recalls as the theme and eventually gets started under U flag. Unfortunately the breeze continually died during the race. The first race finished in about 3-4 knots of breeze. The light air shuffled the standings some and the light air specialists had their day. Current was a factor today as well. If you correctly choose the correct side of the course with the current you made big gains. With the dying breeze the race committee sent the sailors back to shore.
After a two-hour wait the clouds come over and breeze came with them. With 5-6 knots the sailors were called off the beach and back out to the starting area. The second race of the day was underway and shortly after the clouds left unfortunately they took the breeze with them. The Hobie 16 fleet made it around the first mark before the died and the current took over . A few boats made it around the mark but he rest couldn’t because of the strong current. The race was abandoned and the sailors made their way back to the beach. With the tide out by the time back to the beach it was a long trek up the beach. Then they sailors headed to refuge of pool for a well earned rest. So day 3 only produced one race.
More racing tomorrow with everyone hoping for some more breeze.
In the Hobie 16 class Francisco Figueroa and Jolliam Berrios (PUR) lead followed by Tom Korzeniewski and Karen Grisko (USA). The Hobie 18 class leaders are Ken Marshack/Valerie Pioszak (USA) followed by Jim and Barbie Doty (USA). Racing continues through Friday.
Results
Day 4
The racing continued the light wind theme, which changed the leaderboard. Sailors stayed on the beach under postponement waiting for the wind to fill until 12:45. Once the wind filled, three races were completed in 6-9 knots of wind. And after much anticipation 1st race was a general recall followed by a U flag start. Despite the lighter winds, the racing was very tactical and the scoreboard was shuffled quite a bit. An out of pattern westerly made the race course a challenging one with the favored side changing constantly. With the light winds rounding the first mark was congested and challenging for the sailors. Many sailors having multiple goes at rounding the mark.
Going into the final day of racing the scores have compressed and the championship is coming down to single points between places.
In the Hobie 16 class Jeff Newsome and Michele Eatough (USA) lead followed by Tom Korzeniewski and Karen Grisko (USA). The Hobie 18 class leaders are Ken Marshack/Valerie Pioszak (USA) followed by Jim and Barbie Doty (USA). Racing continues through Friday.
Results
Day 5 and final day
The final day of racing in the 2016 Hobie 16 & Hobie 18 North American Championships has completed under clear blue skies and light wind. The day began with an on time start and 6 knots of breeze from the ESE with 4 competitors vying for the top spot – all were within reach of 1st Place. Two races were completed in oscillating conditions as the top 10 finishers shifted from the previous day.
After the competition of the 2nd race committee was hoping to do a 3rd race. They sent the sailors back to shore as the wind had decreased in strength. Unfortunately the wind didn’t build sufficiently to start a third race.
In the Hobie 16 class Francisco Figueroa and Jolliam Berrios (PUR) won their third championship followed by Tom Korzeniewski and Karen Grisko (USA). Pat and Darcy Porter thought they had second place as they hit beach. Only later did they find they had been scored OCS for breaking the start in the last race.
The Hobie 18 class winners are Ken Marshack/Valerie Pioszak (USA) followed by Jim and Barbie Doty (USA).
Results
