| WHY THE CR 914? |
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Beware! If you aren't already one of more than 6,000 CR 914 owners in the United States, this website will convince you that you should be. Here is a very brief overview. Designed in 1986 by a Japanese naval architect, the CR 914 is a high-performance racing sloop that resembles the International America's Cup Class boats of that era. CR stands for "cup racer;" the hull is 914 millimeters (36 inches) long – about 1/25th of the size of its IACC equivalent (and you can sail one for less than 1/100,000th of the cost of waging an America's Cup campaign). The US CR 914 class organization was established in 1994. Dedicated to the philosophy of true one-design racing, our class rules ensure that every boat, professionally built or assembled from a kit, will be able to perform as well as the boats the champions sail. More than 1,500 CR 914s are currently registered in the US. They are raced by teen-agers and octogenarians, by beginning sailors and national, international and Olympic sailing champions, in more than 25 active fleets from coast to coast, and our annual Larchmont CR 914 Spring Invitational is the largest single-class RC regatta in the country. Sounds too good to be true? This capsule has just touched on a few of the high points! Click on "About the CR 914" to learn more about this outstanding boat, the organization behind it, and the people who sail it. Then explore the rest of our website; but remember, you do so at your own risk. Before you know it you'll find yourself hooked. When that happens, get ready for the ride of a lifetime ... and WELCOME ABOARD! |
Incumbent President Pete Maxson and Vice-president Chuck Buzek, along with John Skerry (treasurer) and Jim Linville (Region 1 director) won the contested AMYA elections by decisive margins. 755 ballots were received. The full results are posted on the AMYA website (click on "Election Results Are Posted" there).
Because the Autumn issue of the CRonicle will feature photos and stories from the 2008 Nationals, its publication will be delayed about two weeks beyond the normal October 1 date. Subscribers should expect to find it in the mail around October 18.
Hurricane Kyle failed to show up as had been predicted, and instead Redd's Pond resembled the eye of the storm for both days of the 2008 Nationals. Most of the races had to be sailed in winds of zero to three knots, and some heats over very short courses lasted for nearly 30 minutes. And what wind there was came from every point of the compass at random. (Oh, by the way, it rained nearly continuously throughout the regatta--during both the racing and the social events.)
With that introduction, you might expect the final standings to be scrambled, and the 26 competitors from nine states (only two registrants stayed home because of the weather) to have gone home in a sour mood. WRONG. The cream of the racing talent rose to the top, as it almost always does in a well-run regatta, and the order of finish came very close to duplicating the seeding chart for the first race of the series, with 1999 and 2007 champion Dave Ramos (Chesapeake Bay Model Racing Association) eeking out a one point victory over Marblehead sailmaker Steve Cruse, and 2006 champion Chuck Luscomb (Dry Pants MYC/Connecticut) third.
The racing part of the event ended with a whimper instead of a bang when Race Directory Judy Skerry took mercy on the soggy sailors and declared an end to the racing when the wind died completely about 30 minutes before the scheduled deadline Sunday afternoon. But the elements failed to dampen spirits, and as they left Redd's Pond a bunch of wet but happy sailors were vowing to head cross-country for next year's Nationals in (sunny) San Diego.
Click here to see the complete results, and a few photos of what you missed if you weren't able to enter the Nationals this year. And watch for a full report and other stories about the Nationals in the Autumn CRonicle.
A draft version (Microsoft Excel worksheet) of an index of every significant CR 914 NEWS and CRonicle article that has been published is now available on this website. Click here to go to a page that provides further details and a link to download the .XLS file.
A work in progress, the Index will be updated each time a new issue is published, and should improve in quality, content, and user-friendliness over time. We hope you find it useful.
Ten boats raced at Redd's Pond in Marblehead on June 29, despite the weather forecasts, the look of the weather that morning and the threat of algae. The weather gave the fleet fine racing and algae was only a minor irritant. Steve Cruse is the 2008 Region 1 Champion. Biff Martin placed second, and Stuart Tubbs third. Click here to see a full report.
The three CR 914 national champions among the 26 entries from five states in the 2008 New England Spring regatta hosted by the Dry Pants MYC in Deep River, CT on April 12-13 lived up to their credentials. After two days of intensive racing (17 HMS races plus a seeding race, 54 heats in about 11 hours of racing) 2007 champ Dave Ramos from CBMRA took 1st place by 7 points over '06 champ Chuck Luscomb from the host fleet. Dave Van Cleef from Newton, MA took 3rd with Brian Jobson from the host fleet rounding out the trophy winners in 4th and Biff Martin from the Marblehead MYC 5th.
DPMYC put on another outstanding regatta, holding at bay the rain that had been forecast both days, coping magnificently with the 90-180 degree shifts created by the same northwesterly wind that plagued the '07 Nationals in Deep River (where "the wind never blows from the northwest"), and again hosting outstanding social events on Friday and Saturday nights.
Click here to see a couple of photos and an Excel spreadsheet file of the final results.
