After practice races Sunday and a great opening ceremony Sunday night, the Zhik 2014 US Nationals started Monday with just a single race before inclement weather brought an early end to the first day’s competition.
Racing began Monday morning in a 15 knot northerly. Two boats were OCS at the first start. Approaching the end of the first downwind leg, Robbie Daniel and Karl Brogger had established a clear lead, but a capsize just before the gate allowed Mike Easton and Tripp Burd to pass them, followed by John Casey and Colin Page.
This was the decisive moment of the race as Easton and Burd held that lead for the rest of the race to take the first gun of the regatta. Casey and Page also held on for second place. 2014 World Champions Gunnar Larsen and Ferdinand Van West from the Netherlands were 6th at the gate, but managed to move up during the second lap to take third at the finish, with Ken Marshack, Juan Faustin and John Tomko taking the next three places. Despite their capsize, Daniel and Brogger sailed an impressive second lap to finish in ninth place. Full results are here.
Conditions in the first race made for exciting racing and seemed to augur well for the rest of the day. However a thunderstorm developing in the Gulf began to move in from the west and the Race Committee elected to send the boats back to the beach to wait for the weather to clear. Unfortunately, strong wind and rain turned out to be our fate for the rest of the day and by mid-afternoon it was clear that there wouldn’t be any further racing.
There is a small chance of further thunderstorms Tuesday, but at the moment the forecast for the rest of the week looks good, and we have every reason to hope for a lot more great racing. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/F182014 or Twitter at https://twitter.com/f182014 for live race reports through the day. Be sure to check out the great photos being taken by our event photographer Jasper van Staveren here.