The 1996 Colonial Cup came down to a tacking duel of former Mid Atlantic All-Americans. In the last race, St. Mary's grads Scott Nixon and Samantha Rosemont of Annapolis, were narrowly bested by USNA grad Hal Gilreath of Atlanta with Alex Stout (St. Mary's) of Annapolis crewing. Going into the last race, Gilreath/Stout were 2.75 points ahead excluding the drop race. Nixon/Rosemont had overcome a ten point deficit after the first day by winning the first three races on Sunday. Gilreath/Stout initiated the tacking duel because simply beating Nixon/Rosemont would not ensure victory. To guarantee a win, they had to push Nixon/Rosemont past their worst drop race. Needless to say, after about 100 tacks, both boats got a view of the cheap seats. This makes the second Annapolis regatta in a row won by Mr. Safety First and Mr. Safety Last, as Gilreath and Stout are fondly known (they won the '95 Frigid Digit - the fall SSA Snipe regatta).
A beautiful weekend greeted the 34 Snipers who traveled from places as far as Boston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, North Carolina and Ft. Lauderdale. Warm temperatures and 5-12 knot southerly breezes provided for very pleasant sailing conditions despite the "Annapolis washing machine" going full bore and the 60' cruising schooner which came a little too close to the windward mark and blanketed 1/3 of the fleet as they were attempting to round (A visitor was heard saying "I expect to have to deal with idiot powerboaters - I never thought I'd have to worry about idiot sailboaters, too!"). A shorter (by SCIRA and SSA standards) course format was utilized this year. The races were about 45 minutes in length with about 0.6 mile beats. In addition, 3 minute intervals between starting signals and downwind finishes minimized the time between races. Despite the generally light breezes nine races were held on Saturday and Sunday around windward/leeward, twice around courses.
The racing was generally very close due to the competitive nature of the fleet. Room at (all!) marks was definitely at premium. When it was all over and the throwout figured in, Nixon/Rosemont finished 2nd, Locals Hawkeye Dull/Erica Museler (USNA All-American) and Eric Reinke/Karen Ray (USNA grad) had solidly placed 3rd and 4th respectively by posting consistent finishes. Lee Griffith of Yardley, PA with Lori Stout crewing ended up on top of a three way tie with Bill Hall/Scott Tarpley (Boston) and Pedro Lorson/Mimi Berry (New York). Multiple PMS's were scattered throughout the regatta (your author scoring a regatta high three), with the "Z" flag making several appearances.
Once again the beer truck was flowing to the competitors delight along with a grilled teriyaki chicken dinner on Saturday evening. Thanks to the SSA race committee for a well run event, regatta chairman Hawkeye Dull and all the members of Annapolis fleet 532 for their legwork to make the regatta a success.
Final Results:
| Skipper | Crew | sail no. | bow no. | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | total points |
place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hal Gilreath | 28655 | 16 | 0.75 | 2 | 0.75 | 3 | 0.75 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 18.25 | 1 | |
| Scott Nixon | 28214 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0.75 | 3 | 0.75 | 0.75 | 0.75 | 0 | 21 | 2 | |
| Hawkeye Dull | 27788 | 3 | 3 | 0.75 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0.75 | 37.5 | 3 | |
| Eric Reinke | 25483 | 23 | 0DNC | 7 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 15 | 59 | 4 | |
| Lee Griffith | 27054 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 73 | 5 | |
| Bill Hall | 28199 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 0PMS | 2 | 19 | 73 | 6 | |
| Pedro Lorson | 28044 | 24 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 0PMS | 15 | 11 | 4 | 73 | 7 | |
| Peter Commette | 29014 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 27 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0DNC | 74 | 8 | |
| Craig Beardsley | 24600 | 79 | 18 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 83 | 9 | |
| Gerard Coleman | 25949 | 75 | 4 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 84 | 10 | |
| Jno Disch | 27664 | 78 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 4 | 20 | 10 | 94 | 11 | |
| Bob Oberg | 26130 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 96 | 12 | |
| John Manderson | 28065 | 4 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 19 | 0DNF | 101 | 13 | |
| Gavin O'Hare | 24607 | 18 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 13 | 18 | 104 | 14 | |
| Rick Harris | 26895 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 23 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 109 | 15 | |
| Rob Breslin | 25784 | 17 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 120 | 16 | |
| Charlie Bustamante | 27872 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 0PMS | 8 | 38PMS | 21 | 28 | 3 | 121 | 17 | |
| Derek Fernon | 26670 | 26 | 14 | 25 | 30 | 20 | 0DNF | 11 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 127 | 18 | |
| David Applegate | 27861 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 23 | 130 | 19 | |
| Darryl Waskow | 27734 | 21 | 0 | 16 | 17 | 21 | 16 | 14 | 20 | 22 | 6 | 132 | 20 | |
| John Danneberger | 25870 | 60 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 24 | 0 | 21 | 18 | 10 | 9 | 143 | 21 | |
| Alex & Lisa Pline | 26926 | 74 | 11 | 0PMS | 4 | 38PMS | 13 | 13 | 38PMS | 6 | 22 | 145 | 22 | |
| Liz Filter | 28094 | 12 | 25 | 0 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 13 | 169 | 23 | |
| Mike Mergenthalen | 26337 | 76 | 23 | 19 | 23 | 22 | 17 | 26 | 28 | 12 | 0DNC | 170 | 24 | |
| John Tagliamonte | 27225 | 10 | 0 | 28 | 27 | 16 | 25 | 20 | 17 | 24 | 21 | 178 | 25 | |
| Josh Powell | 11 | 2 | 28 | 10 | 26 | 8 | 15 | 0PMS | 38PMS | 27 | 26 | 178 | 26 | |
| Bob Coyle | 24695 | 5 | 21 | 22 | 19 | 0 | 24 | 19 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 181 | 27 | |
| Kin Yellott | 25871 | 49 | 27 | 23 | 24 | 0DNF | 34DNC | 15 | 19 | 30 | 12 | 184 | 28 | |
| Jim Lyman | 26793 | 8 | 16 | 17 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 0PMS | 24 | 26 | 27 | 187 | 29 | |
| Karen Long | 26382 | 94 | 17 | 29 | 0 | 26 | 29 | 24 | 23 | 29 | 24 | 201 | 30 | |
| Robert Harmon | 28171 | 45 | 32 | 0 | 33 | 18 | 30 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 28 | 229 | 31 | |
| Peter Salmon-Cox | 25989 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 27 | 31 | 0 | 32DNF | 236 | 32 | |
| Karen Lorenz | 26759 | 25 | 31 | 31 | 34 | 29 | 31 | 0PMS | 27 | 33 | 32DNF | 248 | 33 | |
| Andrew Grose | 19383 | 28 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 34DNF | 34DNC | 0PMS | 30 | 34 | 29 | 257 | 34 |