International 14 Pacific Rim Champs in Hawaii overall
by Andy Penman 28 Apr 2004 10:05 BST
Day 2:
Day 2 of the International 14 Pacific Rim Championship began with demo sails for the local youth sailors. An excellent piece of class marketing well worth repeating in other parts of the world in the right conditions. The juniors loved the sailing, showing one end of the huge spread of appeal of the class. At the other end and reliably mid fleet are class veterans Alan Laflin and Eric Arens with 78 years of 14 sailing between them.
Racing was not quite the Hawaiian normal. More Queen Mary on a difficult day, mostly 0 to 1 wire and very shifty. Thankfully the reason for this was big wind due tomorrow. So 2 races were held instead of the planned 3 with one held over to what we hope will be big Monday.
It was a much better day for Australians Lindsay Irwin and Dave Alexander but Ron Boehm and Pete Mohler managed to stay in front.
Overnight results:
1 Boehm/Mohler (USA)
2 Penman/Vincze (GBR/CAN)
3 Turner/Bundy (GBR/USA)
4 Irwin/Von Sydow (AUS/USA)
5 Hyter/Pouitt (AUS)
6 Goodson/Derricks (USA)
7 Ruetenik/Czarnecki (USA)
8 Alexander/Chisholm (AUS)
Day 3:
The final day was held in a perfect 20 knot breeze which tested some gear at the front of the fleet. Overnight leaders Boehm and Mohler missed a finish due to halyard problems. 2nd placed Penman and Vincze watched their Bieker mast fold at the gooseneck at full speed before the start of
the first race. Turner and Bundy lost an upper at the finish of race 2 but managed to complete and save the mast.
These upsets opened the way to a great day for the Australians. Linday Irwin sailing with local surfer crew Harold Von Sydow scored 3 2nds, each time behind David Hayter and Alan Pouitt sailing in their first international event in 14s. Their boat is a "narrrowed" Bieker 3 with Bieker t-foil, CST mast and sails from the family loft.
Irwin won the event followed by Hayter. Back in mid fleet but still enjoying the racing were the oldest competitors Alan Laflin and Erik Arens both 64 and with 88 years of 14 sailing between them.
Evening festivities included traditional Hawaiian dance and the more recent tradition of "Junglefire" from the Japanese contingent.
The event was a good meeting of the northern and southern hemispheres 10 months before the next worlds in New Zealand. Numbers are growing under stable rules although there was some discussion of the need for a clearer international rule interpretation mechanism to ensure that all fleets stay
in synch.
Overall Results:
1 Lindsay Irwin & Harold von Sydow (AUS/USA) 28
2 David Hayter & Alan Pouitt (AUS) 32
3 Dave Alexander & Andrew Chisholm (AUS) 34
4 Ron Boehm & Pete Mohler (USA) 47
5 Steve Goodson & Alan Derricks (USA) 52
6 Brad Rutenik & Todd Czarnecki (USA) 67
7 Chris Turner & Kris Bundy (GBR/USA) 73
8 Paul Galvez & Guillermot Leon de la Barra (USA) 74