2018 Kona North American Championship at Pensacola Yacht Club: Show your colors in Pensacola

The 2018 Kona North American Championship comes to Pensacola Yacht Club 19-21 October, 2018. Fifty competitors are expected to use this event on Pensacola Bay as a tune-up for the Kona Worlds the week following in Clearwater, Florida © Konaone.com / Pat Winkelman

What could be more spectacular than a rainbow of fifty or so Kona One boards winding their colorful way around a course on Pensacola Bay in the middle of October? Find out for yourself...

Pensacola Yacht Club (PYC) will host an international fleet of amateurs and pros who will launch their North American Championship from the club's 22 acre bayfront site. In a typical fall breeze on the bay, they could be reaching speeds up to 25 knots.

Racers from all over the world will be setting their sights on Florida for the North Americans and the Worlds. And it all begins at Pensacola Yacht Club. Registration is open online at konaone.com.

The 2018 Kona North Americans scheduled for 19-21 October on Pensacola Bay will certainly be colorful. Men, women and juniors sail together with sails to match their body weight, from Yellow for light to Orange for Heavy.` - photo © Konaone.com/George Cretekos

Tom Pace Jr, the regatta chairman and a pro windsurfer himself, is stoked. "Like the Optimist nationals we just held at PYC, our Fleet Captain Hal Smith and I want this to be the best regatta ever for this one design class. On the bay we will offer great racing and on shore we'll have the kind of fun and fellowship our club, called the South's Finest, stakes its reputation on."

Check-in and late online registration will start Friday 19 October at 0900 and continue through happy hour, until 1900. That Friday afternoon the RC will set a practice race on the Pensacola Bay course, about a 5-10 minute sail from PYC's 250 foot wide launching beach.

Pensacola Yacht Club, home to the 2018 Kona Windsurfing North Americans, boasts 22 acres of private waterfront property, a 250 ft wide beach for dinghy & board launching, a refreshing pool for cooling down, and a prize winning bar & grill for chilling out - photo © Tim Ludvigsen

Saturday starts with more check-in and late registration (penalties may apply) and continental breakfast followed by the competitors briefing and a lot of racing. The day will wrap with refreshments TBD and a tasty buffet dinner.

Sunday, it's continental breakfast and racing (no meetings). The prize giving and final party are scheduled for 1500.

A maximum of ten course races may be sailed over the two days, plus a possible long distance race, too.

Prizes will be presented for 1st-6th Overall, 1st-3rd Women, 1st-3rd Under 18, 1st-3rd Under 15 and 1st-3rd for Grand Masters 65+.