1996 Atlantic Coast Championships

The Larchmont Yacht Club hosted the 1996 Snipe Atlantic Coast Championships in the waters of Western Long Island Sound (the site of the 1996 Western Hemisphere Championships). 32 crews travelled from as far north as Boston and as far south as St. Petersburg, FL.

Saturday was a bright sunny day with a light easterly. As the competitors arrived on the course, the wind died forcing the race committee to hoist the AP flag. About an hour later the breeze picked up enough for a start and the competitors were off like a thundering herd of turtles. Doug Clark and Marci Girard, fresh off of their victory at the District 1 Championships, showed their light air speed around the windware/leeward course, to take the gun. The second race began in light air as the sea breeze fought the prevailing easterly. This resulted in a 150 degree sustained wind shift that benefited those on the right side of the course, and punished those on the left. Jim Bowers and Myrna Fong worked the middle, rounding the top mark first, and leading the reaching parade down to the leward mark in the freshening sea breeze. Surprisingly, the race committee shortened the course, giving Bowers/Fong the gun. After a short delay while the race committe moved the marks, the third race was run in the 8-10 knot sea breeze. Scott Nixon/Samantha Rosemont worked their way to the front during all 5 legs of the course to win the race with Ned Jones/Keri Warren closely behind. The sailors then retired to the club for a barbecue dinner by the pool.

Sunday brought overcast skies, rain, 18-20kts of breeze, and a thankful absence of the Bronx Navy. 26 of the original 32 made their way to the course set just outside of the breakwater. Nixon/Rosemont continued their dominance of the fleet with 1-2 finishes while Henry Filter/Carol Newman also had a good day in the heavier air with a 3-1. Pedro Lorson/Mimi Berry and Bowers/Fong sailed consistently with no race worse than 8th between them to take second and third respectively.

Thanks to the race committee, the competitors, and to the Larchmont Yacht Club. Best of luck with the Westerns. Also, don't forget the Northeastern Championships to be held the weekend before the Western Hemispheres at Larchmont (roughly September 27-28). This will be your opportunity to duke it out with the best Snipe sailors in the world as they tune up for the Westerns.

Lee Griffith is still looking for boats to be chartered to crews travelling from abroad. If you would be willing to charter your boat for the Westerns, contact Lee directly at: griff27054@aol.com

Friday, July 12, 1996, at 11:35 AM
REGATTA STANDINGS: Snipe Atlantic Coast Champs, by Score, page 1

Pos  Sail# Skipper/Crew                           1       2       3       4       5    TotPts Pos
--- ------ ----------------------------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------ ---
  1  28214 Scott Nixon/ Samantha Rosemont         8       3     .75     .75       2     14.50   1
  2  28044 Pedro Lorson/ Mimi Berry               3       8       4       5       6     26.00   2
  3  28440 Jim Bowers/ Myrna Fong                11CNF  .75       6       7       3     27.75   3
  4  28094 Henry Filter/ Carol Newman             2      11       8       9CNF  .75     30.75   4
  5  28852 Ned Jones/ Kari Warren                 5       2       2      19       7     35.00   5
  6  28050 Doug Clark/ Marci Girard             .75      18       7       6       4     35.75   6
  7  25784 Rob Breslin/ Lisa Hughes               9       6      14       8      14     51.00   7
  8  27054 Lee Griffith/ Meredith Schreyer       11      13      19       2       9     54.00   8
  9  26451 John MacRae/ Melitta King             17       4      17       9      10     57.00   9
 10  25483 Eric Reinke/ Karen Ray                10      17      11       4      18     60.00  10
 11  26670 Derek Fernon/ Melissa Cummings        12      25       9      10      12     68.00  11
 12  28199 Bill Hall/ Scott Tarpley               7      23       5      15      19     69.00  12
 13  26130 Bob Oberg/ Molly Alexander            16      12       3      18      22     71.00  13
 14  27788 Robert Dull/ Kim Courawz              14      21      23      11       5     74.00  14
 15  25165 Chad Corning/ Meg Kapica              23      14      12      16      20     85.00  15
 16  25870 John Danneberger/ Sheri Eldridge       6       7      26      17      32DNC  88.00  16
 17  24695 Bob Coyle/ Chuck D'Antonio            27      10      25      13      16     91.00  17
 18  26753 Jim Lymon/ Liz Mahon                  19       5      29      20      21     94.00  18
 19  28542 John Lally/ Keri O'Brien              26      15      21      12      23     97.00  19
 20  26926 Lisa Pline/ Alex Pline                13      32      13      31PMS   11    100.00  20
 21  25090 Ken Skalski/                          25      19      30      14      13    101.00  21
 22  26452 Joe Donis/ Margaret Read              18      29      15      28DNF   15    105.00  22
 23  25659 Ray Schmit/                           22       9      20      24      32DNC 107.00  23
 24  27591 John Mullane/ Jonathan Marks          20      22      18      23      25    108.00  24
 25  27238 Steve Keckler/ Michelle Morphew       32      16      22      22      17    109.00  25
 26  28442 Hans Oen/                             29      20      10      28DNF   32DNC 119.00  26
 27  24012 Dan Ronan/ Karen Oen                  31      30      27      27CNF    8    123.00  27
 28  26305 Paul Wood/ Kathleen Wood              24      26      28      25      24    127.00  28
 29  26894 Harry Levinson/ Sarah Levinson        21      31      16      32DNC   32DNC 132.00  29
 30  28680 Tom Ingram/ Jody Lee                  15      24      32      32DNC   32DNC 135.00  30
 31      1 Kara Shadwick/ Chris Museler          28      28      24      32DNC   32DNC 144.00  31
 32  26449 Charles Corning/ Mimi O'Connell       30      27      31      32DNC   32DNC 152.00  32

-- Steve Keckler