The race committee has eased up a bit on the schedule today running only three races. This ensures that all of the teams have had an equal number of races at the end of the day as we get towards Friday, the last day and the Gold fleet finals.

Enrique Figueroa an Olympic Tornado sailor from Puerto Rico sailing with his wife Carla is still in the lead. Figueroa is working towards his fifth North American Championship in the Hobie 16 this week. Family teams and couples teams are the norm in the Hobie 16 class and it’s very common to see one of them on the top of the score sheet.

The provided boat format of this year’s event has brought some top-level international competition to the North Americans this year with competitors hailing from seven countries.

It was a late day on the water with the final race of the day ending at 7:30. After waiting for wind all morning racing finally got started at 2:30 in the afternoon. The wind built slowly throughout the day and each group got in one race with double trapeezing conditions at the end of the day. Each team sailed two races today with four races total.

Defending champions from Mexico Armando Noriega and Roderigo Achach are off to a good start and lead the series. Americans Kieth Christensen, a three time past champion, and Kristen King are in second.

The favored team from Puerto Rico, Enrique and Carla Figueroa jumped the gun at the first start but managed to salvage a 15 after re-starting. They were second in their second race.

There are lots of young teams at the top of the field this year. Juani Maegli and Christina Guirola from Guatemala came to California directly from the ISAF Youth Worlds and are presently in seventh place.

The Youth and Women’s Hobie 16 North Americans concluded on Friday with a third day of good racing and winds of about ten knots.

Although the racing in the Youth fleet was tight at times the Guatemalans always came out on top. Jason and Alexander Hess ended the series with a perfect score of all first place finishes. Last years champions, Michael Siau and Trey James finished second. Canadians Andrew Robins and Trent Freeman were third.

In the Women’s fleet the win went to former World Champion Annie Nelson and Kathy Kulkowski. Worrell 1000 veteran Sandra Tartaglino and Eileen Haubl came on strong in the end to finish the series in second. Mary Lindsay and Barbara Roettger were third.

Racing for the Open Championship starts on Monday. The winds over the weekend have been unseasonably light making it hard to get through the surf. When the wind does come up it tends to be late in the day and could make for some late afternoons on the water.

The second day of the Hobie 16 Youth and Womens North Americans had some welcomed breeze. After a light wind first day, with only one race completed, the fleets had a building breeze that peaked at close to twenty knots late in the afternoon.

With one day remaining Jason and Charles Hess from Guatemala are dominating the Youth fleet with five bullets in the first five races of the series. These young guys are the top team from a competitive fleet and are likely to be right up there in the Open Championship next week. Last years Youth Champions, Mike Siau and Trey James (NY), are in second place going into the last day.

After a slow start Annie Nelson (CA) and Kathy Kulkoski (NJ) have taken the lead in the Women's fleet. It appears that the increased wind was a bit more to their liking. The pair won race four and five today.

The Hobie 16 Youth and Women's North Americans got off to a slow start today with an onshore postponement due to a lack of breeze. After a morning of frisbee on the beach the racing finally started at about three in the afternoon. One race was completed in a five to ten knot Westerly.

In the youth division Jason and Charles Hess from Guatemala have won the first race and take the early lead. Judy Nasmith and Vicki Ulibarri won the first women's race.