1995-96 SNIPE DEAD of WINTER
Hosted by the St. Petersburg YC, St. Petersburg, Florida
December 29-31, 1995
Sailed on Tampa Bay
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by Bill Welch:
The Trophies and T-shirts for two years in a row carry the 1995 date!
Unlike, the Eighth Annual DOW which began in 1994 and ended in 1995. Uh
sounds confusing - and is! Trophies and T-shirts for two years in a
row carry the 1995 date! The price you pay when you play the edge of the
old/new year!! This DOW presented itself with true to name temperatures
- wet suits, dry suits, and full foulies were the fashion for Friday's
races. The first race went quickly, with great breeze and close
competition. Chris Klotz lead the fleet around the first three marks,
loosing boats on the last beat, with Norway's Birger Jansen & Carine
Juliussen taking the lead for the finish. The second race of the day
was sailed in much lighter conditions, with the heavy current a major
factor at mark roundings. Once again, Klotz took the early lead and
held it for the first two legs, loosing the battle for inside position
at the jibe mark, allowing Ned Jones and Hal Gilreath to take the first
and second places at the leeward mark and finish line.
The sun warmed the day gradually, layers of clothing were discarded, and
THE BLENDER made its first appearance of the regatta for the post race
gathering at the stern of the Welch's floating home. The Blender Party
was followed by an Italian Buffet at St. Pete Yacht Club. Saturday
began cool and cloudy with very light breeze. Most of the fleet got off
the dock too late to make the warning. Many of the fleet left too late
to make the start gun, and a few left so late they did not make the time
limit for starting. Consequently, when the R.C. signaled an abandonment
due to a forty degree wind shift with competitors on every leg of the
course, quite a lot of snipers were delighted with the call. A few, who
had been on time, and were doing very well in the race, were not so
pleased. A second race was started in very light conditions with Ned
Jones showing his usual astounding speed, and taking the lead. The
finish was quite exciting in spite of the slow crawl the snipes were
making against the heavy current. Shinichi Uchida of Japan, sailing
with local crew Linda Brehmer, stayed in better breeze, taking the lead
>from Ned Jones fifty
feet from the finish, only to lose it again when Ned sailed for a puff,
and Uchida went for the pin. Locals Klotz and David Mendelblatt battled
the current and each other for the 3rd & 4th positions almost allowing
Jerry Thompson to nick them out at the pin, coming in with a great angle
and a good puff. There was no hope of beginning another race. The tow
into the dock showed us the best speed of the day, and the awaiting
BLENDER and snacks kept the fleet busy until it was time for the famous
SPYC roast beef buffet and dessert extravaganaza.
We all woke to grim conditions on Sunday morning, New Year's Eve day.
Steady downpour, with thunder and lightening and not much breeze
convinced the Race Committee Chair, Pat Seidenspinner, that it would be
best to postpone until noon and take advantage of the Yacht Club's
fabulous Sunday Brunch buffet. At noon, the AP was lowered and a much
diminished fleet sailed out to the start in a steady 18, gusting over
20. Many had decided to pack up their boats and get a head start on
their New Year's Eve partying or their drive home, betting the R.C.
could not get a race in. Quite a few felt the conditions were too windy
and rainy for their tastes. Exactly half of the registered snipers
finished race number four, and most felt it was the best race of the
series. The wind and waves were great, with the wind settling down to
about fifteen by the start. We were rained on a bit, sometimes heavy
enough that you could barely see the marks or finish line, but it was
warm enough not be uncomfortable. The competition was keen with Birger
Jansen and Scott Nixon getting the best of Ned Jones, in spite of his
incredible speed, and Bill Buckles showing his usual big wind prowess.
The regatta ended officially at the prize giving at the Sailing Center.
Burgers, Chicken and Chili were served up to a wet bunch of competitors
while they packed boats.The regatta unofficially ended a couple of hours
after midnight aboard the Welch,s boat, with THE BLENDER in fine form
and the regatta videos playing nonstop.
After the first day of racing, the fleet was split, making the bottom
third of the fleet the B team, but taking into account breakdowns, DSQs
with some "subjective" adjustments. An "*" following the sail number
denotes the B fleet. Congrats to our B Fleet winners - the competition
was tough, as expected, and a couple of top ten finishes have taken our
1st and 2nd placers out of B Fleet for next time! Mixed blessings for
finding that speed! We hope you regatta organizers will consider having
a B Fleet in your next event!
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By Alex and Lisa Pline:
DoW Reigns as Snipedom's Best New Year's Bash as 46 teams from across
the US and around the world gathered in St. Pete to ring in the New Year
with a bang at the 9th annual Dead of Winter regatta hosted by the St.
Pete YC and Snipe Fleet 801. DoW first timer Shinichi Uchida from
Yokohama joined DoW's international regulars Birger Jansen/Carine
Julliussen (Norway) and Canadians Chris Hains and Id and Ann Crook to
give this year's DoW even more international flavor than previous years.
Showing more pluck than prudence, Bill and Sherry Welch graciously
hosted the apres racing and New Year's Eve blender parties aboard their
trawler extraordinaire "Sails", during which, the following Top 10 list
was developed:
Top 10 Reasons to attend the Dead of Winter Regatta:
10. The City of St. Pete puts on a heck of a fireworks show just for the
Snipers.
9. "Light people can hang" (new Sniper Kara Shadwick and crew)
8. "It's not snowing in St. Pete" (Sean Healy, mascot for the St.
Mary's Alumni "Sail& Swill" team)
7. "Great Waffles - nice and crisp" (Jerry Thompson re: SPYC's answer
to the Brunch Front that blew through on Sunday)
6. ????
5. "The variety of wind conditions" (Race Committee Chair Pat
Seidenspinner)
4. "It's better than beating up on plebes" (Navy's new Head Coach Ned
"Whitey" Jones)
3. Watching Mark Mendleblatt's I-14 pitchpole on Welch's crash tape -
50 times
2. Blinding displays of sequins dancing to the Lounge Lizards' "Bad Bad
Leroy Brown" in the SPYC bar (Alex Pline).
1. Blenders make me sleepy. Every night, very sleepy! (Shinichi Uchida)
Racing commenced on Friday morning with bright sunshine but with
unseasonably cold temperatures that plagued the entire state of Florida.
Two races were completed in Northerly breezes about 10 knots that became
light near the end of the second race. Ned
Jones/Kari Warren displayed blinding speed, posting a 4, 1 to lead the
regatta. Rather than have a two fleet regatta that was set at
registration time, the fleet was split after the first day roughly
2/3-1/3. There was some manual adjustment made so that a DNC/PMS/DSQ or
other anomoly wouldn't prejudice the second fleet. This method had a
good mix of objectivity and subjectivity in splitting the fleet.
Although the fleets were split scorewise at trophy time, they were
started and scored as one.
Day two was reminicent of last year's regatta with partly cloudy and
light conditions. The first W/L race was abandoned after the breeze got
really light and shifted about 45 degrees to the left when it filled. A
second race was started and eventually shortened on the second beat
again due to a dieing breeze. Ned Jones held off Shinichi Uchida to win
the race. A hole in the middle course, with the breeze filling from the
sides, caused some jumbling in the standings.
Day three had a 3 hr postponement until 12:30. It didn't seem like any
more races were going to happen due to not not much breeze in the area
and the forecast for either no wind or lots of wind (wind and waves
slightly higher in funnel clouds as they say on Lake Erie). But the
breeze filled in at about 12:00 and we went out. The breeze was in the
mid teens for the start, which was postponed with only minutes to go due
to a windshift. The breeze lightened considerably and it looked as if it
would be a light an lump fest. But, after the first triangle, the breeze
was back into the upper teens and everyone was having a great time.
Scott Nixon/Sam Rosemont and Birger Jansen/Carine Juliussen were by far
the fastest and had a mombo grind fest upwind. Birger Went on to win the
race with Scott second, with Ned Jones/Kari Warren still fast dispite
being pretty light taking third and winning the regatta. That night at
the SPYC
bar Scott Nixon was heard complementing Sam on here dexterity while she
was putting her hiking pants back on during the reaches on the first
triangle. Bill Buckles made a strong comeback on the last beat (with the
untapered mast!! Check it out.. re:my previous post) just nipping Ethan
Bixby and Chris Klotz.
There were many notable no shows for the last race (which will explain
some of the scores below) who gambled that there wouldn't be a race.
Unfortunately, the last race was the most fun!!
--------------
By Steve Lang:
The previous message did not mention a couple of other things about Dead
of Winter...
Several ex-college sailors besides Kara were there...Steve Lippincott (C
of C) with crew Scott Norman (USF) were among the fleet along with
Terasa Davis who is trying for the olympics in Europe dingy's. Also,
Jeff Linton (3 time Sunfish NA champ) was in a Snipe! The only juniors
were Scott and Mark Lang (11 and 14) who were in their first major race.
We could really think about a college version boat (untapered masts?)
and juniors if we want to keep the college and HS kids involved. We are
still considering Snipes (we have 420's and FJ's now) for our new fleet
this summer - if a builder will try to get the price close to the
college versions of other boats.
I thought the race committee did a great job with very challenging
conditions, lots of early starters, etc. We had very few protests, the
start line was long and the courses fair. We sailed olympic the first
day (2 races), Windward-leeward with offset mark's and gates the second
day, and a fast triangle the third. This really was interesting and
made everyone think. The conditions were tough on the last day (steady
15+, chop and fog), I was one of 2 boats dnf for breakdown, but there
were no capsizes in any race.
The SPSC moved a dozen 420s off the pull up cradles on the docks so the
Snipes could use them for the DOW. That's a lot of work for our
convenience. Two guys from Ohio, the kids and Lippincott/Norman shows
how to surf around the dock posts and push off rather than paddle when
the wind quit. My crew refused to participate. You stood on the deck
on one foot and pushed off each post as the skipper steered just close
enough and heeled the boat to allow one-legged reach. I don't think
anyone got any pictures of the technique. I'd wait till at least March
to try it myself.
---------------------
FINAL STANDINGS:
1 28852 Ned Jones/Kari Warren 4 1 1 3 8.5
2 27270 Chris Klotz/Sherry Welch 5 3 3 6 17.00
3 27410 Birger Jansen/Carine Juliussen 1 7 15 1 23.50
4 28214 Scott Nixon/Samantha Rosemont 3 4 16 2 25.00
5 25948 Ethan Bixby/Trudy Bixby 2 8 18 5 33.00
6 27732 David Mendelblatt/Holly Kickliter 9 10 4 11 34.00
7 28758 Shinichi Uchida/Linda Brehmer 13 5 2 16 36.00
8 26926 Alex Pline/Lisa Foulke Pline 7 16 9 7 39.00
9 26761 Steve Lippincot/Scott Norman 8 12 12 10 42.00
10 29099 Ted Pinkerton/Tracy Pinkerton 15 22 14 13 64.00
11 25949 Kara Shadwick/Chris Museler 14 34 8 9 65.00
12 24702 Jerry Thompson/Dee Schilling 12 9 5 dnc 72.00
13 26100 Woody Norwood/Jennifer Ayers 17 23 20 12 72.00
14 28142 Hal Gilreath/Phil Casesa 6 2 22 dnc 76.00
15 24600 Craig Beardsley/Mimi Beardsley 11 6 13 dnc 76.00
16 16182* Chris Hains/Dave Whyman 27 27 7 18 79.00
17 29092 Bill Buckles/Gilreath & Ilgenfritz ret 30 6 4 81.00
18 23591 Bob Oberg/Cindy Frederick 21 26 19 17 83.00
19 22851 Jeff Linton/Amy Linton 16 13 10 dnc 85.00
20 28571 Don Hackbarth/Andrew Cason 18 29 28 14 89.00
21 25172 Gordon Hackstaff/Cindy Hackstaff 10 14 dnc 19 89.00
22 27027 John Hagman/Dawn Nyitray 19 19 26 dnf 90.00
23 26459* Sean Healey/Micky Graham 32 28 27 8 95.00
24 24605 Tarasa Davis/E.Collins & B.Kadau 25 11 17 dnc 99.00
25 25710* Ben Hammond/Jess Hadman 22 33 32 15 102.00
26 28045* Steve Lang/Debbie Lang 31 21 24 dnf 102.00
27 25060 Jerry Blouin/Joe Blouin 20 17 21 dnc 104.00
28 25122 Matt Bryant/Laura Bryant 23 25 11 dnc 105.00
29 25395* Dave Carroll/Jonathan Carroll 29 32 23 21 105.00
30 26397 Bob Foster/Carly Franklin & Hal 24 31 34 dnf 115.00
31 27772 Bill Welch/Stefanie Carroll 30 15 31 dnc 122.00
32 25677 Jerry Kimble/Bunny Kimble 28 18 33 dnc 125.00
33 27094* Brian Dees/Fred Leadbetter 34 36 35 22 127.00
34 27734 Darryl Waskow/Shell Kimble ret 20 25 dnc 132.00
35 25428* Rick Cashman/Katrina Cashman 37 37 39 23 136.00
36 25951* Tony McCoy/Lawren Carrier 33 24 36 dnc 139.00
37 26078* Gavin Glenn-Harris/Jennifer Beam 36 35 29 dnc 146.00
38 24272* Bill Flack/Lanny Pratt 35 38 38 dnc 157.00
39 27444* Terry McSweeney/Stracey Brinker dnc dnc dnc 20 158.00
40 19888* Sandy Strathie/Dave Michelso 38 39 41 dnc 164.00
41 23625* Dick Hand/April Franklin 26 dnc dnc dnc 164.00
42 27271* Scott Lang/Mark Lang ret dnf 40 dnc 167.00
43 4196 John Sepanski/Mark Aljets dnc dnc 30 dnc 168.00
44 26299* Chris Schneiter/Tracy Schneiter dnc dnc 37 dnc 175.00
45 27469* Peter Ilgenfritz dnc dnc dnc dnc 184.00
46 28282* Leo Murphy/Joe Murphy dnc dnc dnc dnc 184.00
*Denotes assigned B Fleet
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