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A record 39 catamaran sailboats attended the A-Class North American Championship held November 11-14, 2003 in Mandeville, LA at the Pontchartrain Yacht Club. Catamaran sailors came from California, Texas, Canada, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and New Zealand! The catamaran regatta was won by Pease Glaser of Newport Beach, CA who showed excellent speed and sailing smarts by dominating the event on the last day in light and shifty winds.

Virginia Beach, VA, Thursday November 13 th 2003 -- Jef and Christian, two experienced catamaran sailors who have known each other since childhood, decided to go for a sail. Jef sails a NACRA 5.2 and Christian (a long time Hobie 16 owner) a Hobie 14. On Thursday, November 13 th, 2003, with high winds in the forecast, the two sailors decided that their combined 310 pounds would be put to good use on the NACRA 5.2, so Christians Hobie 14 stayed on the beach.

They had sailed the NACRA from the same spot the previous weekend with winds in the twenties and very high waves. During that sail the box of emergency flares Jef normally carries on the NACRA 5.2 had been lost at sea. On this Thursday, a gust of 44.9 mph had been reported at 8:00 am, but by the time our sailors launched the boat into unusually flat surf at 2:00 pm, the Oceana station was reporting sustained 27.6 mph with gusts up to 38.

Aruba, November 14th 2003 - The Dutch Formula 18 team Gunnar Larsen and Xander Pols won the 13th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. On Friday November 14th, they beat the British Tornado sailors Sunnucks/Self in the last race with four minutes on rating. After the light conditions in the last couple of days, the wind was back and therefore the smiles on the faces of the competitors.

This morning the promised seabreeze at breakfast was there. The race committee put again an olympic course down. The competitors were excited to go on the water. It was their last chance to sail with stronger wind and they got it. Several catamarans capsized under spinnaker and there was also little damage to equipment, but everybody enjoyed sailing. Just like on the first racing day, it were again the Tornado's that dominated the race.
Complete scoring for the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta at the end of the full article.

Holiday Inn, November 13th 2003 - On Thursday November 13th, the long distance race of the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta was thrilling. Tornado teams were fighting the Formula 18 sailors Gunnar Larsen and Xander Pols from the Netherlands. William Sunnucks and Mark Self from Great Britain took the lead on the reach and they won the race.

At 10:30 hours this morning, the coloured fleet of catamarans left the beach for today's first race. The wind force was about two to three, but it decreased later on. The small boats had to sail two laps instead of three, which made their competition more interesting. The Hobie 16 teams Rowen/Baring from England and Heilbron/Bogaards from the Netherlands, were fighting hard for the first position of the smaller catamarans. Meanwhile, it was team Sunnucks/Gummer that took the lead of the fleet. Until the finish, the competition remained close. Sunnucks: "Gunnar crossed the finish line in about four minutes behind us, which is enough to beat us". Both teams were now leading the overall ranking. Richard Allen got a third place and the gap with the numbers three, Graat and Koene, decreased to just one point. The pressure was on. The Dutch Hobie 16 team beat the English and moved into the 11th position overall.