15 teams raced in Kingston, Ontario for the title of Seiko North American Champion August 21-25th, 2010. Hans Henken, crewing for his sister, Paris Henken, attributed their Championship victory to consistency in the variety of conditions over the five days of sailing - or was it brother-sister power? 

Racing alongside the 49ers, the 29erXX teams also experienced the drama and intensity of the ultimate Medal Race, wich was broadcast by loudspeaker to spectators by Canada's own Fiona Kidd.  

The event was held on the eastern end of Lake Ontario at Kingston.  The sister-brother duo sailed an excellent event, Hans comments, “Paris and I found that just being consistent with our scores help us a lot in winning the regatta. We didn’t win the most races but our overall points at the end of the regatta proves that we were the most consistent.”

From light and choppy to heavy air to glassy, light and shifty…Paris and Hans worked their opportunity like engineers, figuring out on the fly what techniques worked most efficiently in various conditions, especially when it came to trapping order.  On this issue, Hans commented; “Deciding between which person should trap first, either skipper or crew, was highly important and sometimes yielded different results.”

Ultra light and shifty conditions on the final day of the XX marathon didn’t faze the duo. Hans continued; “The last day was practically glass out on the pond and we were still raced in very light and shifty conditions, both in the medal race and the final fleet race. The medal race in my opinion was the best part of the entire regatta. With all the cameras, small course, starboard roundings and a close finish, not to mention no wind and shifty conditions, made it very interesting!” Fourteen year old skipper Paris Henken, was ecstatic about capping off her summer sailing adventure with the 29erXX victory, saying; “It was a great learning experience and tons of fun to sail in my first 29erXX event! I hope to do more in the future to continue learning about the boat and go fast!”

Photos by Stacy Childers
Final Results