PJ Rodrigues and Christian Ebbin announced their arrival on the international 29er scene in a big way competing in the North American Championship in Ontario, Canada.

The duo placed fifth among a formidable fleet of 18 on their racing debut in the class at the regatta held in conjunction with the Cork International and Sail Canada Youth Championships from August 4 to 7.

They posted eight top-five finishes during the 15-race series contested in variable breezes on Lake Ontario south of Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, including three seconds and two thirds.

“For our first regatta, I was extremely pleased with our finishes as the wind was not consistent,” helmsman Rodrigues told The Royal Gazette. “It went from ultra light to heavy winds, which gave us a good experience in a short period.”

Ebbin said the range of conditions took a heavy physical toll.

“Cork provided four days of varying conditions, testing our fitness levels with some of the top Canadian sailors,” he added.

The 29er is a two-person high-performance skiff capable of exceeding the wind speed when planing both upwind and downwind.

Rodrigues said making the necessary adjustment to the class from the boats he competes in for Christchurch Boarding School in Norfolk, Virginia, in the build-up to the championship was challenging.

“From training for only a month before the event, it was quite challenging as the skiff is a very unstable boat and every little move can make a huge difference in your speed,” he added.

“Transitions from the high school circuit which are FJs and 420s to skiffs requires much more stability and less aggressive movements in many places of the boat. I feel one of our biggest obstacles was the starts as starting in the 29er is different than many other boats.”

The pair are following in the footsteps of local siblings Jesse and Zander Kirkland who competed in the 29er internationally and represented Bermuda at the 2012 Summer Olympic Regatta in Weymouth, England, where they placed nineteenth.

Rodrigues and Ebbin are bidding to qualify for the 2023 Youth Sailing World Championships at a venue yet to be confirmed and got their campaign off to a solid start in their previous outing in Ontario.

“This was a good start for us as we try to qualify to represent Bermuda in the Youth Worlds,” Ebbin said.

“It was great to be back in the 29er after a little break and fun crewing for the first time as usually I skipper. It’s a position where I have to have full trust of the skipper, and we did great for our first time competing together.”

Rodrigues and Ebbin were the only international sailors in the fleet at the 29er North American Championship with the remainder all Canadian.

Helmsman Mattias Koechli and Andreas Koechli secured the gold medal, with Matthew Young and Colin Gilley claiming silver and Callum Bowness-Linegar and Callum Ruch bronze to round off the podium.