Twenty boats representing all of the five 1st District fleets participated in the 2009 1st District Championship. Activity began on Thursday as several boats rolled in to be set up.

Friday morning the wind was very light, but after a delay the breeze finally came in from the south and the first race got off cleanly. Right from the start a pattern was set and Jud Smith, with District Secretary Luis Hornos crewing, figured out which way to go, and with a combination of boat speed and wind intuition got out into the lead and won the race. Race 2 was more or less the same, although with the wind a little stronger and a bit more to the west creating good hiking conditions.

Saturday’s races were a repeat of Friday’s both in wind strength and in direction. The pattern continued and the top 4 boats of the series continued to finish in a narrow range at the top.

Sunday proved to be more interesting, if not more difficult. The fleet left the harbor in a northerly but a bit off shore wind that turned to be a southwesterly. The race was a course 3 with a direction of 220º in very light wind, with the crews often sitting in the boat. About two-thirds of the way down the first run the wind came in strongly from the northwest, making the last two beats a challenge for some crews.