US Snipe Sailor

Summer 2014

SCIRA USA2812 Canon Street

San Diego, CA 92106619-222-0252

Danielle Richards, Executive Administratordanielle@odmsail.com

Sherri Campbell, SCIRA Financessherri@odmsail.com

Jerelyn Biehl, SCIRA Executive Directorjerelyn@odmsail.com or scira@snipe.org

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.

The guys and gals of District 2 did themselves proud with the hosting of the 2014 Nationals at the Okoboji Yacht Club in Iowa. Yes, the number of competitors was lower than we had hoped, and yes, there was no wind the last two days, but that doesn’t begin to tell the story.

As Roberto Guaragna of Miami said early one morning, “Those who didn’t come to this regatta really missed out.” Roberto then went on to praise the facility, the weather (fairness 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 tie-breaker.

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

Brainard Cooper, US National Secretary

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.

Soon to come are the Frigid Digit/World’s Qualifier at Severn Sailing Assn. in Annapolis, The Riff Raff Regatta at Cowan Lake, OH, the Pan Am Trials in San Diego and the annual Halloween bashes - Atlanta’s famous Halloween Snipe Regatta, and Mission Bay’s Carolyn Nute Memorial Regatta.

Charter/loaner boats are available at many of these events, so we encourage Snipers everywhere to get out there and see

old friends and enjoy the best competition anywhere.

Serious sailing – Serious fun, indeed!

Photo above: Winchester Invitational & Classic Snipes - Everyone loves the Swanson green ‘99 boats!

Fall 2014 2

By Carol Cronin25 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.

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 get the supplies needed for restoration. And any questions were ably answered by one of the owners, yacht historian John Rousmaniere, or current builder Andrew Pimental. Best of all the forecast was for big breeze the next day, so nobody hesitated to fill up at the 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.

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 Sue Hardy. Hull #13, the second oldest boat on site sailed by Sarah Cushing and Bill Ridge, was awarded the Sailor’s Choice award. And Steve Lee/Todd Calvin won the farthest travelled award for bringing “Woody” all the way from Rochester, NY. Todd was also the most obviously dressed for his boat’s decade, 1970, in a tie-dye T-shirt.

Thanks to the Winchester Boat Club race committee, but a special thanks to Art Rousmaniere for the contagious enthusiasm that brought us all together.

2014 Winchester Invitational / Classic Snipe Rally - Classic Snipes

Winchester Invitational

position Number Skipper / CrewBoat +

Crew Age Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 total pnts position1 30903 Cam Fraser / Lolitta Kumaresan 46 1 4 1 5 1 12 12 30860 Carol Cronin / Kerry Sullivan 84 3 1 2 8 3 17 23 31171 Jim / Alex Bowers 57 8 2 3 4 2 19 34 30928 Andy Pimental / Jane DiCristina (29842) 93 5 5 9 2 4 25 45 30470 John Lally / Kerry O'Brian 111 4 7 7 1 9 28 56 30600 Kevin / Audrey Hetherington-Young 60 6 6 8 11 8 39 67 29111 Joel Zackin / Kara Morris 100 15 10 4 6 7 42 78 30089 Andy Klein / Deb Muse 130 2 3 12 12 13 42 89 28542 Bob Coyle / Ann Walt Stallings 100 11 9 14 3 6 43 9

10 31001 Jim / Carol Tomassetti 110 13 15 11 9 11 59 1011 25412 Art / Kelly Rousmaniere 110 14 14 5 13 15 61 1112 27861 Matt / Liz Conover 84 16 12 13 16 10 67 1213 31013 John Tags / Linda Epstein 25 DNC DNC 6 7 5 70 1314 29964 Bob / Jane Panza 137 12 18 17 14 12 73 1415 30999 Martin / McKenzie Fraser 81 17 13 10 10 DNC 76 1516 29499 Venkat Chalasani / Jennifer Rousmaniere 110 18 17 15 15 16 81 1617 27999 Lianne Dusek / Sabrina McDonnell 67 19 22 18 17 14 90 1718 28442 Sue Lodico / Jan Tabor 146 10 16 16 DNC DNC 94 1819 25050 Matt / Jackie Johnson 80 9 8 DNC DNC DNC 95 1920 31204 Ray Schmit / Amber Packard 70 7 11 DNC DNC DNC 96 2021 13 Sarah Cushing / Bill Ridge (Classic) 198 20 21 DNC DNC DNC 119 2122 8300 Ernie / Sue Hardy (Classic) 207 22 19 DNC DNC DNC 119 2223 29972 Peter / Susan Bronk 93 21 20 DNC DNC DNC 119 2324 19119 Steve Lee / Todd Calvin (Classic) 148 23 23 DNC DNC DNC 124 2425 18942 Joost Vrakking / John Kizer 127 24 24 DNC DNC DNC 126 25

Classic SnipesNumber Owner year built name

13Margeret Ridge (sailed by Sarah Cushing / Bill Ridge)

1941 XLNC Sailor's Choice Award

3258 Roy Terwilliger 1939 Snowbird4741 Ridge family 1943 PDQ5481 Tierney Family 1945 Free Bee8300 Ernie / Sue Hardy 1950 Seasoned Boat and Team Award

2nd Place Sailor's Choice Award9440 Rodney Long 1953 Red Wing9741 John McShane 1954

13003 Ridge family (Lippencot) 196116333 Jack Gannon 196618326 Joe Kurland 197019119 Steve Lee / Todd Calvin 1971 Distance traveller Award

2014 Winchester Invitational and Classic Snipe RallyWinchester, MA, 12-13 July 2014

Fall 20143

SCIRA US Racing Calendarwww.snipeusa.com

Month Date Event Host Sanc-tioned

October 3-5 Frigid Digit - Worlds Qualifier Severn Sailing Association QOctober 11-13 Pan Am Games Trials San Diego Yacht Club YOctober 25-26 Halloween Regatta Atlanta Yacht Club YOctober 25-26 Carolyn Nute Regatta Mission Bay Yacht ClubNovember 1-2 SCIRA USA Masters Championship St. Petersburg Yacht Club YJanuary 1-4 Miami Snipe Invite Miami, FLFebruary 6-8 District 6 Championship - Worlds Qualifier San Diego Yacht Club QMarch 16-18 Snipe Midwinters Clearwater Yacht ClubMarch 21-23 Don Q Rum Keg Coconut Grove Sailing ClubMarch 25-29 Bacardi/Gamblin/Kelly Royal Nassau Yacht ClubJuly 3-5 SCIRA North American Championship Royal Hamilton Yacht Club YJuly 10-16 Pan American Games Toronto, ON, CANAugust 7-9 SCIRA USA Junior & Special Junior National

Championship & Classic Boat ChampionshipMission Bay Yacht Club Y

August 7-14 SCIRA USA National Championship Mission Bay Yacht Club YAugust 14-15 GFU Mission Bay Yacht Club

Rank SailNo 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

Snipe Pacific Coast ChampionshipLong 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 three-time PCC winner and current Snipe district champion Doug Hart by 17 points and first-day leader Eric Heim by 21

“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.”