Jason Hess and Irene Abascal win Hobie 16 North Americans

Lewes, DE (September 26, 2014) – The 44th Hobie 16 North American championships concluded today with Jason Hess and Irene Abascal from Club Los Sauces, Guatemala taking the title. Mark and Grace Modderman from Long Branch, New Jersey followed in 2nd place and Pedro Colon and Monica Cabrera from Puerto Rico in third winning the tie break over Dan Borg and Liana Giovana from Canada.

Nine races were completed with 4 races held on the last day of the regatta. An early fall Nor’easter wreaked havoc on the regatta, postponing races for two days. The competitors were greeted to a beautiful day for the last day of racing with sunshine and Northerly winds that started out near 18 knots and faded during the day.

The event is also a Pan Am Games Country qualifier, with the top team from the top 3 countries (not including the host country, Canada) qualifying for the 2015 Pan Am games to be held in Toronto, Canada. The top three nations are Guatemala, United States and Puerto Rico. The top three US teams are Mark and Grace Modderman (2nd), Rich McVeigh and Carol Hilk (6th) and Paul and MaryAnn Hess (7th). The US representative to the Pan Am games is still to be determined.

Click here for complete results.

Report by Greg Raybon. Photos by Mike Walker.