2008 International 14 North American Championships

The Narragansett Skiff Foundation is proud to report completion of the first successful hosting of a multinational International 14 regatta in the Eastern US since the beginning of the modern-rules era of the class. The 2008 I-14 North American Championships has been declared a smashing success with nearly all participants claiming they "can't wait to come back" - from as far away as San Diego, Seattle, and Toronto. Newport and Narragansett Bay delivered three days of beautiful weather and sailing conditions. 16 Boats from three countries saw 10-12 mph, gusting to 15 on days one and three, and 10 gusting to 12 on day 2. Water temperatures were in the high 60's/low 70's and air temperatures were in the 70's on the water and 80's on land.

Congratulations to North American Champions Kris Bundy and Fritz Lanzinger, from Seattle, and Narragansett Bay Champions Jason Lemieux and Rob Paterson, from Toronto.

The regatta included a distance race around Jamestown. This course was over 18 miles rhumb-line with estimated over-water distances traveled approaching a marathon 26 miles after factoring in tacking and gybing angles. The distance race determined the Narragansett Bay champions, and was included with the results of six buoy races of approximately 90 minutes each, over the next two days, to determine the North American champions.

Our expert race committee of Robin Wallace, Joey Mello and Chad Atkins did a perfect job of getting off 6 buoy races in two days, with perfect prediction of the bay's thermal to maximize on-water racing time and wind, and minimize on-water delays. Mark official Atkins nailed the setting of the reach mark that is so critical to a perfect multi-national I-14 regatta, giving us reaches that were difficult to carry the kite on, but do-able if you played your cards just right.

Information and Media

Pre-regatta information archive: