US Snipe Sailor Wow! Summer is already winding down and the fall sailing season is upon us. The summer season has been filled with Snipe activity and growth. In the last issue of this magazine we mentioned that membership numbers were looking up. Three months later our membership numbers are up 20% above 2013’s.
Mintzias edged Augie Diaz and Aine McLean Fretwell by a point. At the World Masters SCIRA USA was represented by Augie Diaz and Kate Sheahan of Miami who were first in the Master Division and second overall. Again in District 2, the Rocky Mountain Snipe Championship at the Union Sailing Club of Longmont, CO was won by Doug Swenson.
The guys and gals of District 2 did Soon to come are the Frigid Digit/World’s Qualifier at Severn themselves proud with the hosting of the Sailing Assn. in Annapolis, The Riff Raff Regatta at Cowan 2014 Nationals at the Okoboji Yacht Club Lake, OH, the Pan Am Trials in San Diego and the annual in Iowa. Yes, the number of competitors Halloween bashes - Atlanta’s famous Halloween Snipe was lower than we had hoped, and yes, Regatta, and Mission Bay’s Carolyn Nute Memorial Regatta. Brainard Cooper, there was no wind the last two days, but that US National Secretary doesn’t begin to tell the story. Charter/loaner boats are available at many of these events, so we encourage Snipers everywhere to get out there and see As Roberto Guaragna of Miami said early one morning, “Those old friends and enjoy the best competition anywhere. who didn’t come to this regatta really missed out.” Roberto then went on to praise the facility, the weather (fairness Serious sailing – Serious fun, indeed! demands mentioning that this was before the two-day calm at the end of the week), the venue, and the support given the sailors on and off the water. Those participating can testify to the excellence of Iowa corn-fed beef! Our Class received a very nice compliment from Nationals Chief Judge Mike Posey, who commenting on the rigging and tactics seminar conducted by Doug Hart, Augie Diaz and others, said that he thought highly unusual to see as much camaraderie between competitors as at our Nationals. Executive Administrator Danielle Richards and your National Secretary especially appreciated the help of former Executive Administrator Mary Buckley for her invaluable assistance, both at registration and on the Race Committee. Thank you, District 2. Very well done! As this is being written the 2014 Western Hemisphere and Orient Championship has just been completed, and US National Champion Raul Rios won the regatta – by one point! Whew! Congratulations to Raul and his crew, Fernando Monllor. Hearty congratulations also to other US sailors who finished 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, and 19 in the 43 boat fleet. But these aren’t the only stories this summer. Cottage Park hosted the Women’s Nationals and the North Americans on successive weekends following the Nationals, a Herculean task pulled of successfully by the sailors in District 1 lead by Art Rousminere. Aine McLean Fretwell and Claire Riedman topped the 15-boat fleet and are our new US Women’s National Champions, edging Carol Cronin and Linda Epstein in a tiebreaker. Close Snipe competition continued the following weekend when 37 boats from 5 countries showed up for the North American Championship. Miami’s Ernesto Rodriguez and Eduardo
Photo above: Winchester Invitational & Classic Snipes - Everyone loves the Swanson green ‘99 boats!
SCIRA USA 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 619-222-0252 Danielle Richards, Executive Administrator danielle@odmsail.com Sherri Campbell, SCIRA Finances sherri@odmsail.com Jerelyn Biehl, SCIRA Executive Director jerelyn@odmsail.com or scira@snipe.org
Summer 2014
2014 Winchester Invitational and Classic Snipe Rally Winchester, MA, 12-13 July 2014 Thanks to the Winchester Boat Club race committee, but a special
By Carol Cronin 25 boats, including 3 classic Snipes, fit in five races over two days on the famous Mystic Lake, a small puddle northwest of Boston with a big Snipe history. But the racing wasn’t really the big story of this particular weekend: that honor goes to the “first ever” achievement of having a boat representing every Snipe decade in attendance.
thanks to Art Rousmaniere for the contagious enthusiasm that brought us all together.
Saturday started off windless and ended up much the same, but over the course of the day the Race Committee fit in two races. Local Cameron Fraser and Lolitta Kumaresan put together an almost-perfect record, until the last 100 yards of the second race when they sailed into a hole and lost 3 boats. One of the teams who squeaked past was Carol Cronin/Kerry Sullivan, who also squeaked out a tight finish over Jim/Alex Bowers to take a slim overnight lead. Back on shore, sailors gathered around the collection of 10 wooden Snipes that ranged in birth years from 1939-1970. The boats were in various states of restoration, and they also showed quite an evolution of cockpit design. Speakers explained the effort put into each boat, as well as where to 2014 Winchester Invitational / Classic Snipe Rally - Classic Snipes get the supplies needed for restoration. And any questions were ably answered by one of the owners, Winchester Invitational yacht historian John Rousmaniere, or Boat + current builder Andrew Pimental. Best of Crew Age position Number Skipper / Crew Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 all the forecast was for big breeze the next 1 30903 Cam Fraser / Lolitta Kumaresan 46 1 4 1 2 30860 Carol Cronin / Kerry Sullivan 84 3 1 2 day, so nobody hesitated to fill up at the 3 31171 Jim / Alex Bowers 57 8 2 3 barbecue dinner. Sunday’s forecast turned out to be true. Fortunately the 10am start let us fit in three more races before the breeze piped up too much to be safe. Cameron Fraser and a fresh crew stepped out to win the first race of the day, and after posting a 5,1 took the regatta by 5 points. Cronin/ Sullivan managed to hold on for 2nd overall in spite of a disappointing 8th in race 4. Jim Bowers and his stable of crews (all family members) finished third overall without winning a single race.
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
30928 30470 30600 29111 30089 28542 31001 25412 27861 31013 29964 30999 29499 27999 28442 25050 31204 13 8300 29972 19119 18942
In addition to the racing results, special trophies were awarded for the Most Seasoned Team (highest age of skipper + crew + boat), which was won by Ernie and Classic Snipes Number Sue Hardy. Hull #13, the second oldest 13 boat on site sailed by Sarah Cushing and Bill Ridge, was awarded the Sailor’s Choice 3258 4741 award. And Steve Lee/Todd Calvin won 5481 the farthest travelled award for bringing 8300 “Woody” all the way from Rochester, NY. 9440 Todd was also the most obviously dressed 9741 for his boat’s decade, 1970, in a tie-dye 13003 T-shirt. 16333 18326 19119
Fall 2014
Andy Pimental / Jane DiCristina (29842) John Lally / Kerry O'Brian Kevin / Audrey Hetherington-Young Joel Zackin / Kara Morris Andy Klein / Deb Muse Bob Coyle / Ann Walt Stallings Jim / Carol Tomassetti Art / Kelly Rousmaniere Matt / Liz Conover John Tags / Linda Epstein Bob / Jane Panza Martin / McKenzie Fraser Venkat Chalasani / Jennifer Rousmaniere Lianne Dusek / Sabrina McDonnell Sue Lodico / Jan Tabor Matt / Jackie Johnson Ray Schmit / Amber Packard Sarah Cushing / Bill Ridge (Classic) Ernie / Sue Hardy (Classic) Peter / Susan Bronk Steve Lee / Todd Calvin (Classic) Joost Vrakking / John Kizer
Owner Margeret Ridge (sailed by Sarah Cushing / Bill Ridge) Roy Terwilliger Ridge family Tierney Family Ernie / Sue Hardy Rodney Long John McShane Ridge family (Lippencot) Jack Gannon Joe Kurland Steve Lee / Todd Calvin
93 111 60 100 130 100 110 110 84 25 137 81 110 67 146 80 70 198 207 93 148 127
5 4 6 15 2 11 13 14 16 DNC 12 17 18 19 10 9 7 20 22 21 23 24
year built
name
1941
XLNC
1939 1943 1945 1950
Snowbird PDQ Free Bee
1953 1954 1961 1966 1970 1971
Red Wing
5 7 6 10 3 9 15 14 12 DNC 18 13 17 22 16 8 11 21 19 20 23 24
9 7 8 4 12 14 11 5 13 6 17 10 15 18 16 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC
Race 4 Race 5 total pnts position 5 1 12 1 8 3 17 2 4 2 19 3 2 4 25 4 1 9 28 5 11 8 39 6 6 7 42 7 12 13 42 8 3 6 43 9 9 11 59 10 13 15 61 11 16 10 67 12 7 5 70 13 14 12 73 14 10 DNC 76 15 15 16 81 16 17 14 90 17 DNC DNC 94 18 DNC DNC 95 19 DNC DNC 96 20 DNC DNC 119 21 DNC DNC 119 22 DNC DNC 119 23 DNC DNC 124 24 DNC DNC 126 25
Sailor's Choice Award
Seasoned Boat and Team Award 2nd Place Sailor's Choice Award
Distance traveller Award
2
SCIRA USwww.snipeusa.com Racing Calendar Month
Date
October October October October November January February March March March July July August
3-5 11-13 25-26 25-26 1-2 1-4 6-8 16-18 21-23 25-29 3-5 10-16 7-9
August August
7-14 14-15
3
Event
Frigid Digit - Worlds Qualifier Pan Am Games Trials Halloween Regatta Carolyn Nute Regatta SCIRA USA Masters Championship Miami Snipe Invite District 6 Championship - Worlds Qualifier Snipe Midwinters Don Q Rum Keg Bacardi/Gamblin/Kelly SCIRA North American Championship Pan American Games SCIRA USA Junior & Special Junior National Championship & Classic Boat Championship SCIRA USA National Championship GFU
Sanctioned
Host
Severn Sailing Association San Diego Yacht Club Atlanta Yacht Club Mission Bay Yacht Club St. Petersburg Yacht Club Miami, FL San Diego Yacht Club Clearwater Yacht Club Coconut Grove Sailing Club Royal Nassau Yacht Club Royal Hamilton Yacht Club Toronto, ON, CAN Mission Bay Yacht Club
Q Y Y
Mission Bay Yacht Club Mission Bay Yacht Club
Y
Y Q
Y Y
Fall 2014
Snipe Pacific Coast Championship Long Beach, Calif. July 12-13, 2014 By Rich Roberts The message sent by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s Fourth of July Regatta was that little boats aren’t just for kids. The two most prominent winners were Aine McLean Fretwell, who will celebrate her 40th birthday next Wednesday, and Chris Raab, a small boat master (and former Snipe sailor) who may not still remember that milestone. Fretwell, although measuring 5 feet 2 1/2 inches in height, is a mother of three from Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego. With teenager Matt Cappetta as crew, she won the Snipe class Pacific Coast Championship linked into the regatta with four second places, wins in Sunday’s last two races and an earlier fifth-place she was able to discard. She was the only female skipper in the 10-boat fleet. Fretwell said: “I’m thinking I may wake up from one wild dream. This is the big one for me. I’ve done well in some women’s events, but I like to compete with all the sailors.” She beat out threetime PCC winner and current Snipe district champion Doug Hart by 17 points and first-day leader Eric Heim by 21
Rank
SailNo
“We weren’t aggressive enough in playing the conditions,” Heim said. “Aine was just fast all weekend. She owned it.” The breeze rose just to whitecap level at 10 to 12 knots Sunday, and she and Cappetta thrived in it. But it was interesting that she came up short of a crew only two days before the event. “She called me Thursday,” said Cappetta, 18, who learned the ropes with Fretwell as his coach at The Bishops School in La Jolla last year. Someday soon her own kids may join her on the boat. She has a daughter, 9, and twins son and daughter, age 6. They may be back. “This is really fun,” she said. “I love sailing out here.”
HelmName
CrewName
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
Total
1st
29248
Aine McLean Fretwell
Matt Cappetta
2
(5)
2
2
2
1
1
10
2nd
29941
Doug Hart
Ryan Hopps
3
2
(5)
3
1
4
4
17
3rd
30337
Eric Heim
Aimee Heim
4
1
4
1
3
6
(8)
19
4th
30800
Rick Arneson
Diana Waterbury
1
4
3
4
(5)
5
3
20
5th
30733
Packy Davis
Jessica O’Neill
(9)
3
1
5
7
2
7
25
6th
29316
Mark Ryan
Nicholas Santos
(8)
7
7
6
4
3
6
33
7th
30687
Seth Siegler
Ben Constant
6
(10)
6
7
6
7
2
34
8th
23965
Matt Hecht
Claire Reidman
10
6
8
(12 DNC)
9
8
5
46
9th
29539
Tom O’Neill
Laurel O’Neill
7
8
9
8
8
9
(10)
49
10th
29109
Stuart Robertson
5
9
(10)
9
10
10
9
52