The 2023 National Championship was held by Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club at Blue Hill, Maine, from August 13-19. Winner was A44 Try Again, sailed by Ian Evans, Tomas Hornos, Carsten Steenberg and Jake Evans. In second place was Scott Reichhelm in A142 Shucks, and third A49 Transit, Tim Britton. 23 boats competed in Blue Hill’s typically good southwest wind.

Ian Evans races in the KYC fleet and says that familiarity with local conditions was helpful over the course of the regatta. Try Again had consistently good results, only once finishing out of the first four. Awareness of tidal flow was important, as was picking the favored side of the course on the way to the weather mark, not always an easy choice. The center of the course was always to be avoided.

The first day dawned with a flat calm, but racing was postponed until 4 pm when a breeze arrived and two good races were fired off. On day two conditions were close to perfect for racing, while day three was slightly lighter and substantially more variable in wind direction. It all came down to the last race when either of the first two boats could have won the event. Evans and crew pulled it off, sealing the title with a final victory.

Race Officer Amanda Clark, an ex-Olympic sailor, has received much praise for her fine handling of this event. KYC deserves congratulations for putting on the best championship series the class has seen for a while.

 

Full results are here. 

And here are some great photos of the event from Christine Guinness.