National Champs – 2024
Richmond Yacht Club May 17-19, 2024
The third weekend in May saw the US International 14 fleet converge on the Richmond Yacht Club on San Francisco Bay for the 2024 I-14 US Nationals regatta. RYC and its ideal location on the world-famous Berkely Circle was the perfect big-air venue for teams from Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Hawaii to train and compete in three days of fleet racing and one long-distance race, building towards competing in the 2024 World Championships in Lago Di Garda, Italy.
Day 1 race 1 was a short W/L course on the north end of the Berkely Circle in a building 10-15kts of breeze before the fleet was sent off on a 15 nautical mile distance race (scored as race 2 in the regatta results) from near the breakwater in Richmond, east of Angel Island, on a broad two-sail reach through the big wind and waves between Alcatraz and the San Francisco cityfront before turning upwind to the famous Blackaller buoy in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, then turning downwind, hoisting and racing back across the Golden Gate through Racoon Straight north of Angel Island and back to Richmond to finish. Those who survived the dreaded two-sail reach in the 15-20kts of breeze through “the slot” and up the big flood-tide induced rollers up the cityfront were rewarded with a scenic downwind slalom course where the wind followed the tide all the way to the finish. Congrats to Evan Sjostedt and Mikey “Polish” Radziejowski on their distance race win.
Saturday’s fleet racing was in a solid 15kts of breeze in the northern part of the Berkely Circle, with winds gusting well into to the low 20’s. The big breeze and short chop put a premium on boat handling and upwind speed, and the tight courses saw a lot of lead changes across the day’s three races. With a deadline to pack the boats and ship them to Italy for the Worlds looming, several boats took a conservative approach and retired early to avoid breakdowns that could jeopardize their Worlds run, highlighting multidimensional sailing and boat design challenge that is I14 racing. With a 2-1-1 scoreline on day 2, Michael Pacholski and Patrick Wilkinson put on a convincing performance, particularly given their relatively short time in the fleet and in a relatively new-to-them boat. Keep an eye on these guys.
Sunday’s racing was relatively milder, with 2 races on the northern part of the Berkely Circle in “only” 12-18kts of breeze. A 2-4 finish on day 3 for Pacholski/Wilkinson was enough to hold onto the lead with an untouchable 10pts across 7 races for First Place overall and a clinch of title of 2024 International 14 US National Champions. Local rivals Kirk Twardowski and Matt Skafel battled John Clark and Hoel Menard for the remaining podium slots, ending the regatta tied with 15 points each. In the end, it was Twardowski/Skafel’s two first place race finishes to Clark/Menard’s one that clinched second place for Twardowski/Skafel on the countback, with Clark/Menard finishing third.
Twardowski/Skafel were also winners of the Eric Arens trophy for the top finish from a boat whose combined age was greater than 100 years. Liz Campbell took home the trophy for the top women’s finish, having crewed partner Michael Leitch around the challenging course. Marcos McGee and Sam Normington earned the Avenger Trophy for the top finish from a prior-generation boat design.
Sunday’s racing was relatively milder, with 2 races on the northern part of the Berkely Circle in “only” 12-18kts of breeze. A 2-4 finish on day 3 for Pacholski/Wilkinson was enough to hold onto the lead with an untouchable 10pts across 7 races for First Place overall and a clinch of title of 2024 International 14 US National Champions. Local rivals Kirk Twardowski and Matt Skafel battled John Clark and Hoel Menard for the remaining podium slots, ending the regatta tied with 15 points each. In the end, it was Twardowski/Skafel’s two first place race finishes to Clark/Menard’s one that clinched second place for Twardowski/Skafel on the countback, with Clark/Menard finishing third.
Twardowski/Skafel were also winners of the Eric Arens trophy for the top finish from a boat whose combined age was greater than 100 years. Liz Campbell took home the trophy for the top women’s finish, having crewed partner Michael Leitch around the challenging course. Marcos McGee and Sam Normington earned the Avenger Trophy for the top finish from a prior-generation boat design.
Next stop, Lago di Garda Italy, where more than half of the Nationals competitors will be on the line for the 2024 International 14 World Championships, with fleet racing running from August 2nd to 9th.
-MS
