Hamlin, McNicol clinch I-14 world title with race to spare

Sept. 15 , 2006



Hamlin, McNicol clinch I-14 world title with race to spare



LONG BEACH, Calif.---Howard Hamlin and Euan McNicol can sleep in late Saturday because the only item on their schedule is the awards dinner on the Queen Mary Saturday night. The Long Beach skipper and his Australian crew don't plan to sail the seventh and last race after locking up the International 14 Class World Championship Friday.



Third place behind Tina Baylis and husband/crew Trevor Baylis and 17-year-old Samuel (Shark) Kahn and crew Paul Allen made them mathematically unbeatable.



The victory was remarkable in that this was only the winners' third I-14 regatta, although both have enjoyed big careers sailing other kinds of skiffs. Hamlin, 53, has won world titles in the 18ft Skiff and 505 classes and just this summer has collected other crowns in the European 18s, the 18 Skiff International Regatta at San Francisco and the I-14 U.S. Nationals on these waters last month, as well as his sixth second in the 505 Worlds. McNicol is also an 18 Skiff world champion.



Over dinner one night last year McNicol, 30, talked Hamlin, 53, into racing an I-14, which is a skittish handful in any conditions.



"He didn't have to talk very hard," Hamlin said. "I'd sailed against Euan for 10 years and have my highest regard for him. I was honored that he wanted me to do it with him. I thought we'd be competitive."



To say the least. They could have finished eighth Friday, but that would have been far off the pace they set all week with successive scores of 1-4-2-2-2-3 in a full range of conditions, allowing them to spend their discard by taking Saturday off. Friday it blew 15 knots, with puffs to 17.



McNicol said, "Training together and getting to know each other better, I learned that Howie thinks in the same clear and direct way I do, and I'm at the stage where I have to sail with people of the highest caliber."



With the wind back up after two light air days, Kahn and Allen found their groove again to move from fifth place back up to third, five points behind the Baylises. In fact, they led for most of the race until the final tack for the finish when they stalled, allowing their fellow Santa Cruz competitors to tack on top of them and win by about 10 seconds.



"He had kelp on his rudder and almost capsized," Tina Baylis said. "I thought, hey, we can tack here and have a boat race."



Their finishing smiles were almost as bright as Hamlin's and McNicol's.



Stronger wind also meant the usual toll in capsizes and dropouts. Of 71 entries, 64 started and 56 finished.



The last race Saturday will start at 1 p.m., conditions permitting.



Supporting sponsors for the International 14 World Championship are West Marine Products, Ronstan, North Sails, Glaser Sails, Irwin Sails, SailingProShop.com, Magic Marine, Acqua di Gio Georgio Armani, Shackle Dog and Labatt's.



STANDINGS (71 boats; after 6 of 7 races):



1. Howard Hamlin/Euan McNicol, Long Beach, 1-(4)-2-2-2-3, 10 points (clinched championship).

2. Tina Baylis/Trevor Baylis, Santa Cruz, Calif., (OCS)-5-5-3-5-1, 19.

3. Samuel (Shark) Kahn/Paul Allen, Aptos, Calif., 5-2-1-(14)-14-2, 24.

4. Archie Massey/George Nurton, Great Britain, (OCS)-9-12-1-1-4, 27.

5. Michael Lennon/Jon Blackburn, Great Britain, 4-8-3-5-(10)-8, 28.



Complete results, daily press releases and photos will be posted at www.abyc.org



More information at http://www.i14worlds2006.com/



Photos accompanying the reports may be copied to Web sites. For print media, high-resolution photos are available by contacting . . .



Media contact

Rich Roberts

(310) 835-2526

cell (310) 766-6547

richsail@earthlink.net