The 2014 racing season is in full swing across the US! The Multihull Committee had a very productive teleconference on May 22. Topics of note are that a trophy committee was formed, and a long-term plan for action items was discussed at length. There was lots of focus around training and youth development.
Major regatta highlights include: In June, the Formula 16 Worlds were held in Newport, RI. The top US team was Ravi Parent and Sam Armington of FL (2nd place, 29 boats). The A Class NAs were held in NC, won by Bruce Mahoney of TX (51 boats). The Hobie 17 NAs were held in MI, Matt Bounds of MI won via tiebreaker (18 boats). In July, the Hobie 16 Youth, 14 and Wave NAs were held in NJ. Top US results: Ben Brown and Casey Larson of CA (H16 Youth, won, 10 boats), Susan Korzeniewski of NY (H14, 2nd place, 14 boats), and Jim Glanden of DE (Wave, won, 7 boats).
US sailors also performed well at other major regattas held in other countries: In June, the Hobie 18 Women and 16 Trapseat NAs were held in Canada. Chris Bradshaw and Serenity Taha of KS won the H18 Women (12 boats), while Bob Jones (WA) and Bob Johnson (TX) took 3rd in the H16 Trapseat (5 boats). In July, Taylor Reiss and Matthew Whitehead (FL) placed 3rd at the F18 Worlds in Ireland (57 boats). Ravi Parent and Nicholas Shultz (FL) placed 4th in the SL16 class at the ISAF Youth Worlds in Portugal (16 boats).