H14 Nationals

Brian
Matt Bounds, Bill Jeffers, Herb James and me all made the trip to Clear Lake, IA after the 16's. Mark Amico also came from NY.
Matt and Bill went to give Bob a run. Herb and I went to support the event. This was the biggest H14 Nationals in more than 25 years with 35 boats participating.
Thursday we had some rain during setup and then no rain the rest of the weekend. Friday was very windy in the midwest as the F18 guys found out. The little H14 was perfect for those conditions. I had a blast and was actually in 4th place after that day. When it lightened up for Saturday and Sunday the lighter teams ate my lunch and I dropped fast.

The div 7 guys did an great job putting on this event. They put in a lot of labor to keep the costs down.
The ladies cooked home made dinner in the yacht club and lunch was provide each day.
The Carlton Tucker award was given out Saturday night to Todd Wilson of div 7. It was a great presentation and a total surprise to him. The look on his face was priceless and something I will never forget. He was speachless(from what we were told that doesn't happen to him).
All in all it was a great low stress event that I am glad I went to support.

I brought the 14 to RI with me to shake the bugs out before the trip to Iowa. People were a little amused on the practice race day at the 16's when I showed up to the committee boat on a 14!

I caught an open regatta (CMOR) on the way home from the 16's and got good light air practice on the 14.

Bob's been doing the 14 for too long and taught us some lessons. If I could only have him teach me how to lose about 30 - 40 pounds <img src=

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Chris Wessells and the Division 7 crew put on a really nice regatta for us. Pat was looking a little stressed after that first light-air race on Saturday, though.

That's a direct result of the self proclaimed

biggest Hobie cheerleader

in the land and Div. 7 chair, Chris Wessels. Way to go man! Glad it was a success.

This MAN ochestrated sending thousands of dollars to the Mississippi Special Olympics Sailing Team after they were wiped out by Katrina. Intimately involved with Fleet 84 (Des Moines), Fleet 10 (Clear Lake), Division 7, PRO of the '06 Alter Cup qualifier, Event Chair of the '05 18/20 Nationals. In the short time I've had the pleasure of knowing Todd he has shown boundless enthusiasm for our sport. He gave sets of racing marks to fledgling fleets this year (one fleet completly outside of Division 7). We're looking forward to competing against him in the 20 Nationals next week, he's such a ball to be around and a damn good sailor.

Congratulations Todd!!! <img src=

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Pat and Matt, You guys are too cool for words! Pat I was so impressed with you and Sarah in Rhode Island. It is mighty unusual for someone her age to have the focus, discipline, and desire to do something like that! Matt sorry I missed you there! I saw you and Diane bringing the boat in Tuesday, but there were so many other crews struggling to get their boats up the beach, I was busy helping them. The next thing I knew everyone was gone. Hope to see you both next season! Matt I heard the old guys let you win the 17 Nationals, since you were the youngest guy there!

Brian
There were a number of youths that sailed the H16's in RI
This was Sarah's third Nationals at age 11. She has done our lake,the Pacific and Atlantic ocean.
She was the smallest youth but not the youngest. This year Erica Korz did her first Nationals at age 10. She had a 19 year old skipper in Mike Siau.
The key with the kids is to make sure they have fun.
Dress them warm even when they don't want to. Bring plenty of fun snacks. Let them play around on the boat and do your best to not scare them.
Erica and Mike flipped twice before the start of the first race on Monday and still kept going when a lot of adults were heading in. Matt Perkins and crew Mike Iames (youth team) also stayed out when it was nasty. That's hip.
Hobie 16 Youth squad: