After all, it had been a 26-hour marathon of plane connections and transatlantic flying from LaCoruna, Spain, where she had spent 12 days competing in the Optimist Worlds.

But the fatigue hardly seemed to matter to Kempton, a Toms River Yacht Club junior sailor, who parlayed good starts and consistent sailing into a national championship.

Kempton, 14, of Island Heights, took control of the 180-boat championship fleet by winning the first three races in the 12-race, one-throwout series on Pensacola Bay. She completed the regatta with 1-1-1-3-3-3-6-14(throwout)-2-1-7-4 -- 32 to become the first female in 11 years to win the national title.

"I was so tired," said Kempton. "We stayed up for 24 hours to catch all those flights and we ran through the airport to get a few of them."

Kempton finished 32nd among 252 entries -- she was the third highest-finishing girl -- in the Optimist Worlds, which ended on July 29. The next day, the dash to Pensacola began for Kempton and Toms River Yacht Club teammates Todd Hawkins and Patrick Curran, and Mitch Hall, all members of the U.S. World team. A two-hour delay in LaCoruna due to electrical problems and weather in Atlanta made for an extremely long day.

Maybe there's something to be said for sailing fatigue. Hawkins, Curran, the two-time defending champion, and Hall finished 2-3-4, respectively. In fifth place was Toms River Yacht Club's T.J. Tullo.

Toms River Yacht Club's junior program continued its success on the national stage.

Kempton's brother John finished 16th and younger sister Molly was 76th. Amy Hawkins was 18th, Jerry Tullo was 31st, Sarah Mease was 34th, Stephan Widdis was 56th, Ian Sutherland was 59th, Randy Hartrantt was 65th, Bernie Roesler was 68th, Matt Polhemus was 71st and Leah Brogan finished 100th.

Surf City Yacht Club had a strong showing with Kyle Rogachenko (11th), Royce Weber (14th) and Ian Donahue (80th). Bay Head Yacht Club finishers included Matthew Amarante (25th) and Andy Goetting (61st). Mike Spark of the Jersey Shore Optimist team was 44th and Steven Barbano of Brant Beach Yacht Club was 81st.

Toms River Yacht Club also dominated the White fleet, for those 10-and-under, with Hawkins, Jerry Tullo, Sutherland, Roesler and Molly Kempton taking the top five spots.

Leigh Kempton, Hawkins and Curran were the top finishers in the Red fleet, for age 13 to 15. Hall, T.J. Tullo and Rogachenko were 1-2-4 in the Blue fleet, for age 11 and 12.

At the Optimist Worlds, Curran and Hawkins placed 29th and 40th, respectively. Hall, of Clearwater, Fla., was the highest U.S. finisher, reaching 15th place, and Ted Hale, of Annapolis, Md., finished 74th.

Sime Fantela, of Croatia, secured the World individual crown by winning the final two races.

Argentina defeated Brazil to win the team title and Croatia defeated Finland for third place.

The United States lost to Denmark in the opening round, but rebounded to beat Switzerland, Germany and Italy in the losers bracket before losing to Croatia.