Atlantic Coast Championship – Final Report

Surf City, NJ, June 8, 2014. Results and report by Carol Cronin

17 Snipes flew in from across the country for the Atlantic Coast Championship in the beach town of Surf City, NJ. The regatta was officially run out of the Surf City Yacht Club, but its true heart was at the house of Lee and Karla Griffith a few blocks away. With homemade dinners every night and enough housing for the entire regatta, there was no need to go anywhere else.

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Racing began on Friday with three races. After one race in a light and unpredictable northwester, that breeze died out and it looked like a nice seabreeze would fill. Although there was enough wind to sail and it was a bit steadier than race one, the velocity never built to steady hiking conditions all afternoon. Augie Diaz/Aine McLean, Ernesto Rodriguez/Eduardo Mintzias, and Eric Heim/Amy Benner each won a race.

Dinner Friday night was Lee’s lasagne, Karla’s salad, garlic bread, and box wine. Nobody went home hungry.

We sailed out Saturday morning in the gradient northwest breeze, but before the first start it died and again pulled around to the east. And again, it didn’t build as much as expected, and we barely touched the hiking straps all day. Posting a 1,4,1, Augie/Aine won the day, leaving the rest of the fleet to pick up the spoils. Ernesto/Eddie had a 5,2,2 to hold onto second overall, and Carol Cronin/Kim Couranz posted a 2,3,3 to move into third overall.

The annual pork loin feast at the Griffiths was accompanied by salad, fresh corn on the cob, and other fixings.

Sunday morning was better for swimming and paddleboarding than sailing, so the race committee wisely postponed ashore. The fleet entertained themselves with stories and an in-depth comparison of various jib models, before the breeze filled enough to sail out shortly before noon. The left side paid in the first race, against all local knowledge, and Eric Heim/Amy Benner did a great job of jumping out to a strong lead that they held to the finish. Peter Commette/Ellie O’Brien finished second, followed by Augie/Aine and Ernesto/Eddie. 

The heavier teams were finally rewarded for their patience when the breeze built to 10 knots for the final race. Peter/Ellie led wire to wire, which solidified their third place overall. Eric/Amy posted a third to take fourth overall, earning the coveted qualifying slot for the 2014 Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship.  Augie/Aine’s pair of fours for the day was just enough to win the tiebreaker over Ernesto/Eddie and take the event.

The winner of the ACCs gets to choose the location for the next event, and at the prize giving (under the shadow of his new trophy/umbrella), Augie announced “Surf City! Bring it back to Surf City!” We can only hope the Griffiths will agree.

Thanks also to a great race committee made up of local Lightning sailors, who without fuss or fanfare got off eight solid races in challenging conditions.

Pl	Sail #	Crew	Tot	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	30288	A. Diaz & A. McLean	18	1	(4)	3	1	4	1	4	4
2	30473	E. Rodriguez & E. Mintzias	18	3	1	(5)	5	2	2	3	2
3	29442	P. Commette & E. O’Brien	23	(8)	6	2	3	1	8	2	1
4	30337	E. Heim & A. Benner	29	7	7	1	4	6	(9)	1	3
5	30860	C. Cronin & K. Couranz	31	6	2	8	2	3	3	7	(9)
6	30391	E. Reinke & S. Westphal	47	(15)	3	7	12	7	6	6	6
7	30904	L. Griffith & L. Pline	49	2	(11)	4	10	9	4	10	10
8	29782	Z. Kelchner & B. Stout	53	5	(12)	10	6	5	7	12	8
9	29778	R. Guaragna & A. Guaragna	58	9	5	6	(11)	11	11	9	7
10	30629	G. O’Hare & J. McTighe	68	(18\DNC)	18\DNC	18\DNC	7	10	5	5	5
11	29645	H. Waskow & D. Waskow	80	13	9	11	(14)	13	10	11	13
12	28470	S. Irgens & M. Irgens	82	11	13	12	13	(14)	13	8	12
13	30089	A. Klein & J. Claflin	86	4	10	9	9	(18\DNC)	18\DNC	18\DNC	18\DNC
14	29704	M. Hetherington & K. Hetherington	88	(14)	14	13	8	12	14	13	14
15	29964	B. Panza & E. Hansen	93	12	8	14	(17)	15	15	14	15
16	28542	B. Coyle & K. Sullivan	97	(18\DNC)	18\DNC	18\DNC	15	8	12	15	11
17	30552	J. Frazee & R. Schnabel	106	10	15	15	16	16	16	(18\DNC)	18\DNC

Full results

Photos (Saturday party)