86th Southwestern Snipe Championship

Heavy winds challenge inland lake sailors at Southwestern Snipe Championship

by Mindy Michaels

DALLAS, May 30, 2022 – Nineteen snipes competed in the 86th Southwestern Snipe Regatta hosted by Dallas Snipe Fleet 001 at White Rock Lake in Dallas, from May 28-29. Members of the Dallas Snipe Fleet 001 earned the top three finishes with skipper Gene Soltero and crew Laura O’Leary sailing into first place. Father and son duo, Otto Beall and John Beall snagged second place with son, Otto, performing skipper duties. Top finishers rounded out with skipper Taylon Starr, of Dallas. She sailed with crew Derek Morris, of Dallas, on Saturday and Arosh Chaudari, of Austin, on Sunday. 

Skipper Frederick Winguth and crew Gabby Wong, of Austin, Texas, earned the Newcomer Award, as well as achieving fourth place overall. While they are former members of UT-Austin’s sailing team, this was their first effort in a Snipe.  Other newcomers also sailing in their first SCIRA sanctioned regatta were Rohit Rajan and Alana Babilonia from the North Texas University sailing team and Doug Moldawsky with his son Lukas.

The first day of sailing allowed for three races. However, with winds of 18-22 knots and gusts above 25 knots, the second race only saw 13 of the boats start, five of which either capsized or suffered breakdowns. That dropped to seven starters and five finishers for the third race. This was quite the day for capsizes and broken equipment. 

Sunday morning brought with it even heavier air with winds building to 27 knots during the only race held that day. Nine teams competed Sunday with all boats successfully finishing the race. Sailors traveled from throughout the region with a strong contingent from as far away as Longmont, Colorado to participate in the regatta.

Dallas Snipe Fleet 001 will host its next SCIRA sanctioned regatta, the Texas State Championship, on Oct. 29-30. For more information, contact Regatta Chair Jose Babilonia at [email protected] or Fleet Captain Gene Soltero at [email protected].

RESULTS

Final Place	SKIPPER/Crew	Location	Race 1 (Sat)	Race 2 (Sat)	Race 3 (Sat)	Race 4 (Sun)	Total Points
1	GENE SOLTERO Laura O’Leary	Dallas, TX	2	2	1	2	7
2	OTTO BEALL John Beall	Dallas, TX	8	4	4	4	20
3	TAYLON STARR Derek Morris/ Arosh Chaudari	Dallas, TX Austin, TX	7	6	5	3	21
4	FREDERICK WINGUTH Gabby Wong	Austin, TX	4	5	DNF	6	21
5	AMANDA KREMER Ryan Schubert	Longmont, CO	1	1	DNS	1	23
6	TIM TETSCH Akash Kalsekar	Dallas, TX	5	DNF	2	7	23
7	JAMES RIX Arosh Chaudari	Wichita, KS	3	3	3	DNS	29
8	ROHIT RAJAN Alana Babilonia	Dallas, TX Austin, TX	15	DNF	DNF	9	39
9	JEFF URBANKSI Mindy Michaels	Dallas, TX	9	DNF	DNS	5	43
10	PATRICK LEAHY Amy Jones	Council Bluffs, IA Dallas, TX	12	8	DNS	8	48
11	DAVID FOSTER Poonam Benakatti	Dallas, TX	16	7	DNS	DNS	63
12	JOSE BABILONIA Mildred Babilonia	Dallas, TX	14	DNF	DNS	DNS	63
13	MARTIN BEBB Ardi Dushi	Muskogee, OK Dallas, TX	6	DNS	DNS	DNS	66
14	DOUG MOLDAWSKY Lukas Moldawsky	Longmont, CO	DNF	DNF	DNS	DNS	66
15	ADAM FIELD Alanna Fernandez	Longmont, CO	10	DNS	DNS	DNS	70
16	KIM ADAM Andy Blitz	Longmont, CO	11	DNS	DNS	DNS	71
17	JAMES BLAND Emily Gomez	Austin, TX Dallas, TX	13	DNS	DNS	DNS	73
18	STEPHEN TZHONE Jenani Tzhone	Dallas, TX	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	80
19	ADRIENE MONTGOMERY John Montgomery	Dallas, TX	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	80