If you are looking for the ideal class of boat to sail or build a fleet around, we suggest that before reading this section you first look at How to Choose a Class, to acquire perspective from which to interpret the discussion of the CR 914 that follows.

The 914 millimeter-long CR 914 is based on the original design of the International America's Cup Class. Because the CR 914 is relatively inexpensive and can be purchased fully built or can be assembled from a kit without special skills or tools, it qualifies as an entry-level class. But it is also a high performance racing machine that accelerates quickly, turns on a dime and points like a tour guide. It sails well in an extremely wide range of wind velocities, without having to use multiple rigs for light and heavy air like some other classes must do. Weighing only 6.25 pounds and carrying 658 square inches of sail area, it ghosts amazingly well in the lightest of air. Ballasted by over four pounds of lead in the streamlined bulb at the end of its deep fin keel, however, this remarkable little boat readily handles a 20 knot wind and can keep racing in gusts to 30 without shortening sail. Click here to watch a video of CR 914s in action.

The hull and deck are cast as one piece of ABS plastic. The high-aspect-ratio foil-shaped rudder and keel fin are molded with their shafts installed. The spars are made of aluminum tubing, the keel bulb is a shaped lead casting, and the sails are dye-cut from lightweight rip-stop polyester spinnaker cloth. Kits come from the US distributor with complete electronics, a boat stand, epoxy and cyanoacrylic glue, and an "upgrade package" that has been developed in the United Stares to overcome a few minor shortcomings in the original kit that were identified early in our experience with the boat. You get all the parts, reinforcing materials, fasteners and everything else you need to build and sail the CR 914 except sandpaper and batteries—oh, yes, before you can go sailing you also need some water. Kits, partially built boats, finished boats ready to sail, and boats with custom paint jobs and special graphics can be ordered from the US distributor, Chesapeake Performance Models, which also carries a full line of parts and accessories.

In a one-design class the objective is for the performance of the boats to be equal. The CR 914 is one of only a very few truly one-design classes in which you can be completely confident that when you win or lose a regatta it's because of how you sailed and tuned your boat and not whether someone bought or built a faster boat, spars or sails, thus defeating you in the "arms race" that often complicates sailboat racing. It takes more than a set of rules to achieve this sort of truly level playing field. From the beginning, both the leaders of the CR 914 class organization and the companies that have marketed the boat have been dedicated to true one-design principles. The CR 914 class, like all the classes in AMYA, is administered by the class secretary. In addition, however, our class benefits from the wisdom and experience of the immediate-past class secretary, who in his newly created role as class measurer is responsible for issuing interpretations of the class rules, and seven other members of the Class Advisory Committee who help the secretary make decisions about class issues, select host clubs and venues for regional and national championship events, etc. At present the class leadership consists of the following CR 914 sailors:

Our elegantly simple but effective CR 914 class rules evolved during the 1990s, and have required no further amending since 2000. Interpretations of the rules are issued and published regularly, clarifying gray areas and responding to inquiries from boat owners who want to innovate. The rules and interpretations are available elsewhere on this website, but it is worthwhile quoting here the preamble to the interpretations, which captures the one-design philosophy that keeps the class on a firm and steady course: "1. An interpretation must be consistent with the letter and/or intent of the class rules. 2. An interpretation must not offer the potential of improved performance. 3. An interpretation that improves boat reliability without improving performance may be considered for approval."

It is the people who sail the boats that really make or break a class. There are more than 6,000 CR 914 owners in the United States, and more than 1,500 of them have registered their boats with the class, indicating their desire to race and participate in other class activities. We have more than 20 active fleets of CR 914s from coast to coast. These numbers alone place the CR 914s among the top five classes in the country. More important than mere numbers, however, are the kinds of people who sail those boats. And our class has some of the very best. One of the neatest things about one-design classes is the common bond of love for the same class of boat that they engender. This is particularly true in the CR 914 class. We 914ers compete with each other intensely on the water, but we make good friends in our local fleets and at our regattas and enjoy those friendships as much or more than the competition. Veterans recruit new CR 914 sailors with almost missionary zeal, welcome them to our clubs, and love to mentor them and assist them up the learning curve.

Virtually unique in the sport of RC sailing, we publish our own class newsletter rather than relying on the AMYA magazine, Model Yachting (which has to try to meet the needs of more than 20 recognized classes). Founded in 1996 by the legendary class secretary Chuck Winder as the CR 914 NEWS, our newsletter has played a major role in the popularity, growth, and cohesiveness of the CR 914 class. It has been an invaluable source of information and tips about building, optimizing, troubleshooting, tuning, and sailing CR 914s and their electronics. Reflecting the fact that this website and our CR 914 Class Yahoo Group now serve class members as the primary sources of time-sensitive news, in 2005 the name of the newsletter was changed to the CRonicle (definition of chronicle: a record of events), but its missions to promote communication among class members and enhance the enjoyment of their boats remain unchanged. You can learn more about the CRonicle, read several articles from recent issues, and examine a typical front page and table of contents by clicking here. A fully-indexed archive of every issue since day one is one of the features in the Members Area here (accessible to class members who pay a small communications subscription fee for newsletter and other Members Area services).

Many CR 914 sailors came to the sport of RC sailing from a background in full-scale ('peopleboat") sailing, and many of them continue to race peopleboats, ranging from dinghies to ocean racers, in addition to their 914s. Because of that connection, our class enjoys an unusually close relationship with full-scale yacht clubs and with the United States Sailing Association (US SAILING). Indeed, ten of our fleets are associated with full-scale yacht clubs, including the grand old Larchmont Yacht Club on Long Island Sound, and the San Diego Yacht Club (when SDYC hosted the CR 914 Nationals in 2003 and 2006 they used the same committee boat that ran their America's Cup regattas). This relationship with the full-scale sport works both ways: at the 2003 annual meeting of US SAILING in St. Louis, one of our fleets hosted a match-racing regatta sailed in CR 914s to determine that year's Championship of Committees.

All of the pieces described here have combined to make the CR 914 one of the most popular, rapidly growing (at the rate of about 100 new registrations per year) and all-around best classes in the United States. We 914ers, of course, know it is the very best, and we invite you to join us and see for yourself!