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American Youth Sailing Force Captain, Ian Andrewes just return from a few weeks in the Island where he grew up and began sailing. This is the 1st of two reports on the US International 14's Pacific Rims
This October marked the U.S. I-14 Pacific Rim National Championship’s, which are held every other year at Kaneohe Yacht Club on the Island of Oahu. I was fortunate to have the time to participate in this event as the waters we were racing in are the very same waters where I first learned to sail. It was a fantastic experience to be back in a familiar place and to be racing high performance boats in such a large and competitive fleet. I sailed with local Seattle legend and current U.S. builder of 14’s, Kris Henderson.
All imagery courtesy Kai Andrade Photos Nice work Kai and THANKS!
The idea of doing to this regatta together came about somewhat randomly one day as we were standing around his boat shop. We sailed on board Kris’s own boat named “Shishole” after the area we sail out of in Seattle. The design is a custom boat of Kris’s own making that was built for the 2006 I-14 worlds in Long Beach CA. Its now considered an older design to still be racing but as one of our good friends and competitors pointed out “Your boat might be only 97% as fast as the newest B-6 but about 300% easier to sail.” That is pretty much the best way to describe her.
We had an awesome 5 days of sailing with the Pacific Rim Championships taking place on the first day, which was windward leeward racing on the bay. Day 2 was the Hawaii State Championship Pursuit Race, which was a rating style distance race based on the previous days results.
The course had us do a few laps in the bay before short tacking out the narrow channel and rounding an offshore buoy and blasting back downwind with a good size swell before doing some more laps inside and finishing. Kris and I finished well with a 2nd place on handicap and 3rd place boat for boat. Day 3 was the first day of nationals. The breeze was up and the weather was warm. We got 4 races in with Aussie Dave Hayter quickly establishing his lead with four straight bullets on board his brand new B-6.
Day 2 of nationals had us doing two short buoy races in the bay followed by the 15 Nautical Mile distance race as required by the rules for a national event. The course was similar to that of the pursuit race with some legs inshore and offshore before the wind died off and the course was shortened. Day 3 of Nationals, the final day of sailing saw two final sets of buoy racing with Dave Hayter sealing the deal as U.S. National Champion. Kris and I ended up in 7th place and fellow American Youth Sailing Force member and good friend Mikey Radzijowski coming in a close 8th.
The end of the regatta was followed by a fairly memorable awards ceremony, which was MC’d by local 14 sailor Andy ”Master” Bates. The rest of the night was typical for and after regatta celebration as far as I can remember. So looking back on those 5 epic days of sailing, all I can say is I wasn’t ready for it to end. Kaneohe Bay is one of the best places in the world to sail with warm steady breeze and awesome flat water. I’m glad to be able to say that I learned to sail in such a wonderful place and I truly can’t wait to get back there.
Aloha, Ian
www.americanyouthsailingforce.com
This October marked the U.S. I-14 Pacific Rim National Championship’s, which are held every other year at Kaneohe Yacht Club on the Island of Oahu. I was fortunate to have the time to participate in this event as the waters we were racing in are the very same waters where I first learned to sail. It was a fantastic experience to be back in a familiar place and to be racing high performance boats in such a large and competitive fleet. I sailed with local Seattle legend and current U.S. builder of 14’s, Kris Henderson.
All imagery courtesy Kai Andrade Photos Nice work Kai and THANKS!
The idea of doing to this regatta together came about somewhat randomly one day as we were standing around his boat shop. We sailed on board Kris’s own boat named “Shishole” after the area we sail out of in Seattle. The design is a custom boat of Kris’s own making that was built for the 2006 I-14 worlds in Long Beach CA. Its now considered an older design to still be racing but as one of our good friends and competitors pointed out “Your boat might be only 97% as fast as the newest B-6 but about 300% easier to sail.” That is pretty much the best way to describe her.
We had an awesome 5 days of sailing with the Pacific Rim Championships taking place on the first day, which was windward leeward racing on the bay. Day 2 was the Hawaii State Championship Pursuit Race, which was a rating style distance race based on the previous days results.
The course had us do a few laps in the bay before short tacking out the narrow channel and rounding an offshore buoy and blasting back downwind with a good size swell before doing some more laps inside and finishing. Kris and I finished well with a 2nd place on handicap and 3rd place boat for boat. Day 3 was the first day of nationals. The breeze was up and the weather was warm. We got 4 races in with Aussie Dave Hayter quickly establishing his lead with four straight bullets on board his brand new B-6.
Day 2 of nationals had us doing two short buoy races in the bay followed by the 15 Nautical Mile distance race as required by the rules for a national event. The course was similar to that of the pursuit race with some legs inshore and offshore before the wind died off and the course was shortened. Day 3 of Nationals, the final day of sailing saw two final sets of buoy racing with Dave Hayter sealing the deal as U.S. National Champion. Kris and I ended up in 7th place and fellow American Youth Sailing Force member and good friend Mikey Radzijowski coming in a close 8th.
The end of the regatta was followed by a fairly memorable awards ceremony, which was MC’d by local 14 sailor Andy ”Master” Bates. The rest of the night was typical for and after regatta celebration as far as I can remember. So looking back on those 5 epic days of sailing, all I can say is I wasn’t ready for it to end. Kaneohe Bay is one of the best places in the world to sail with warm steady breeze and awesome flat water. I’m glad to be able to say that I learned to sail in such a wonderful place and I truly can’t wait to get back there.
Aloha, Ian
www.americanyouthsailingforce.com
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