Hello everyone,

I recently had an excellent opportunity to gain some valuable I-14 driving experience, and I wanted to share it here in case it is of value to anyone.

I got to spend an afternoon sailing my B4 with Matt Noble as crew and in-boat-coach. The conditions were 15 knots gusting to 18, with light to moderate chop (6"-2'). For those of you who haven't heard of Matt, I can't do his resume justice, but he is a nearly professional skiff sailor, having done a 49er worlds campaign and an Aussie 18 nationals campaign. Although I don't know his actual results, my understanding is that he was frequently near top of the fleet in both cases.

I came into the 14 as a very capable 29er sailor in terms of boat handling (25 knots was easy for me). I quickly came to be afraid of my 14 in 18 knots or more, and would describe myself as uncomfortable in 15 knots. I could go on for pages with how much I learned from Matt, but I'm going to focus on two very key things he taught me that have changed everything.

First, upwind sailing in "moderately heavy breeze" (15 knots - which if you are not an I14 sailor yet, you will quickly come to learn is bordering on survival conditions for a newbie to the boat). My problem in this breeze was the constant feeling that I was not in control of the boat or our maneuvers. Even when just on a beat and not trying to tack, I just felt like I was overwhelmed, and in a constant state of fighting with the boat and the conditions to keep it all together. Add to that that in regattas, no matter how I had my boat tuned & trimmed, everybody was smoking me boat-speed-wise. Of course that wasn't my priority, I just wanted to enjoy myself instead of feeling like I had no business being out there. 

Opportunities everywhere!  Come out and sail 14's..

 The UK have announced that 3 top, race-ready 14's are available for the 2008 season.  Sign up for trials, click here>>

 And in the US, sailing anarchy reports.. "Brad... the local drum-beater for the San Diego I14, fleet has this fit of brilliance and planed an Intro Weekend to get all the people who have expressed interest in 14ing out on the water."

Full story below, but these comments tickle; good effort ladies!

"Now- if I may vent for a moment. Everyone who has a 14 gets asked all the time "Take me out!" It is a BLAST to sail and everyone knows it. But when it came time to actually GO SAILING, who showed up???? Women and juniors! It was a poor showing for the "men". Instead... the rest of us all got to sail with a bunch of fun hot chicks who all totally dug the boat and some super cool juniors who are already planning their advances from the 420 and 29ers to the 14. The youngest was 12 and he was driving in no time."

Austrialian Nationals are underway on Sydney harbour, hosted by the "Flying Squadron".  The regatta runs from 28th December to 4th January, with a layday for New Year.  For photos and results click here.  For Latest News, click here.