Enrique Figueroa and Francesca Valdes of Puerto Rico went wire to wire to win the 2017 Hobie 16 North American championship on Lewis and Clark reservoir in Yankton, South Dakota. Mike Montage and Kathy Ward of the USA won the Hobie 20 championship.
The single class regattas, raced from June 20 to 23, were bedeviled by fickle winds. The 53 teams of the Hobie 16 and 21 teams of the Hobie 20 regattas faced the shifting conditions with aplomb. This is the North American championships. It’s supposed to be hard.
Day one saw breezy conditions and winds from 5 to 15 knots. Day two continued the chutes and ladders theme, with plenty of opportunities to go from the front to the back or vice versa due to shifty, frustrating conditions. As always, the best sailors figured it out.
The third day of racing was full of smiles as a fresh wind blew in from the southeast, providing ideal Hobie sailing conditions. The downwind legs were gybing duels as sailors tried to stay in the best wind. Upwind legs offered big passing opportunities for those who could find the favorable shifts. The standings tightened, but Figueroa and Valdes held their Hobie 16 lead. Mark and Kim Zimmer of the USA were at the top of the Hobie 20 leaderboard.
After a one hour postponement due to strong winds, racing got underway in 10-15 knot breezes. At the start of the third race of the day for the Hobie 16 fleet, everything changed. With approximately two minutes remaining before the start the wind shifted hard to the left and came on at 25 knots. With the fleet all lined up for a starboard approach to a port favored line, the move was to tack as quickly as possible but this is easier said than done with all the boats in close quarters parked on the start line.
A few boats made an escape at the pin and were gone. What ensued was a tight reach to the weather mark followed by a very hot reach back to the leeward gate marks in a very gusty 25 knots of wind. Upwind and downwind boats were crossing head-on at high speeds. Meanwhile the Hobie 20 fleet decided this was not a game they wanted to play and the fleet collectively decided to retire. Racing concluded for the day following this as the wind continued to increase.
On the fifth and final day, it was not to be. Strong winds forced a cancellation of all racing. Thirteen races were completed over a period of four days with winds varying from 5 knots to 25 knots. The shifting winds provided tested the sailor’s ability and stay in the most favorable winds and despite the sometimes frustrating conditions the best sailors found their way to the top.
In the Hobie 16 fleet, Enrique Figueroa sailing with Francesca Valdes won his 10th Hobie 16 North American championship followed by Ben Brown and Casey Astiz of the USA. In the Hobie 20 fleet, Mark and Kim Zimmer (USA) are the new champions followed by Jacob Sailor and Fey Ren (USA).
In 2018 the Hobie 16 class will hold their championship in Navarre Beach, Florida.
