"Rique" and "Alemão" sailed their best to a very consistent win
After 20 years the snipes returned to Florianopolis for a great event. This time the South American Championship was raced in International Jurerê Beach at Yacht Club Santa Catarina - "Sails ships of the Island". The class showed once more that it is strongest than ever with 63 snipes competing in the main senior/women/juniors championship and 23 snipes in the previous master/mixed event.
The Opening Ceremony had the presence of the Commodore of the Host Club, the Commodore of SCIRA, and representatives of all the competing nations. Snipe masts were used to raise the national's flags in an outdoor ceremony followed by fireworks.
The championship consisted of nine races, where the competitors of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay experienced varied wind and weather conditions. The races started with a southerly wind for the master/mix event on March 17th and 18th. The wind then switched to the Northeast for the preliminary race of the big event on the next day and remained there, blowing from 8 to 18 knots.
The mixed event was a total success! 23 crews competed in five races during two days. The mixed South American Champions were Alexandre Tinoco / Larissa Juk (BRA) while the Masters was won by the legendary Paulo Santos with João Hackerot as crew.
In the main event, the competition was very tight. Seven teams were fighting for the first place until the last race, where Carlos Henrique Wanderley / Richard "Alemão" Zietemann from Brazil won the South American title for the second year on a row. "Rique" and "Alemao" topped the rest of the teams sailing in an extraordinarily consistent way, finishing all the races in the top seven.
The dispute was tough for the Women's trophy also. Brazilians Juliana Motta / Viviane Beghin won, on a tight score difference, to the favorites and present Worlds Champions Foglia's sisters from Uruguay. Uruguay showed his strength in the class wining the junior title. Philipp and Oliver Umpierre bet the Junior World Champions Mario Tinoco / Matheus Gonçalves on a close fight in the last race.
Junior and Women participation was the high point. 19 junior crews made for almost 30% the fleet, a signal of sustainable growth in the region. Another revelation was the increasing number of women. 27 women raced in total, with 5 full women crews in the line for the first time ever in a South American Championship!
The championship concluded with a very exciting prize giving ceremony at the club, just in front of the beach. It was a tropical party with DJ sound and much SERIOUS SAILING, SERIOUS FUN!
Good winds
By Alex Juk - 555 Floripa Snipe Fleet
View the full results (27k pdf) or the regatta website.
Photos
Photos by eventosfloripa.com
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