Don Q - Final - Snipe Class International

Miami, March 2123, 2014. Regatta report by Carol Cronin, results, photos and interview with Augie Diaz and Aine Mc Lean.

1. Augie Diaz & Aine McLean, tot. 13

2. Ernesto Rodriguez & Eduardo Mintzias, tot. 24

3. Manu Hens & Yannick Laumans, tot. 26

4. Doug Hart & Ryan Hopps, tot. 27

5. Eric Heim & Bruno Mello, tot. 33

(photo courtesy of John Payne)

32 Snipes collected on the starting line of this year’s DonQ Regatta, the second stop on the annual midwinter circuit. A light and challenging southeaster allowed for two races on Friday, rewarding those who connected the “dots” of puffs on Biscayne Bay. Local Augie Diaz sailing with imported San Diegan Aine McLean won the first one, but one of the farthest traveled teams won the second: Belgians Manu Hens/Yannick Laumans. The fleet was off the water in time to soak up some warmth and sunshine at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, before heading to the Voss house for a regatta party.

Saturday turned out very different racing conditions. After a few general recalls in very light conditions, a nice 10-12 knot southeaster built in just before the first actual start. Rigs were too loose for the sudden increase in breeze, and a quickly built chop made it tough upwind—but the reward was a fun surf-fest downwind.

…

Ernesto Rodriguez and Eduardo Mintzias won the first race of the day but carried forward a Z flag penalty from one of the general recalls, leaving them with 7 points. Doug Hart/Ryan Hopps were second, though they also had a Z flag penalty. Augie/Aine posted a 3rd; their 1,2,3 scoreline was perhaps heading in the wrong direction, but it was still a pretty nice group of numbers.

Race four started in 12-15 knots, and an approaching a rainsquall that held off until the finish. Again the waves were challenging upwind, but the rides downwind were well worth it. Ernesto/Eddie won the second race of the day too, ahead of David Hernandez/Liam Munzenmaier and Eric Reinke/Amy Benner. Augie/Aine had to be happy with seventh, but with one race left in the five race series they held a commanding eleven point lead over Ernesto and Eddie, in 2nd overall, who in turn were only two points ahead of the Belgians.

The famous DonQ daiquiris greeted sailors ashore (though not on the dock as in years past). And the fleet enjoyed a cuban dinner, sharing stories of waves ridden and missed and shifts that went the right or wrong way. The Snipe class is like a large family, and this annual dinner at Coconut Grove Sailing Club is a reunion enjoyed by all.

And suddenly, it was over. Sunday’s breeze didn’t fill in time, so when the Race Committee cancelled just before noon, sailors packed up their boats to head for either home or Nassau (the final stop on the Winter Circuit).

Thanks to Gonzalo “Old Man” Diaz, Jr., the entire CGSC staff, and all the volunteers that make this great event possible.

Bow/Sail	Boat	Skipper	Yacht Club	1	2	3	4	Total	Pos
52 / 30288	Danilu	Augie Diaz/ Aine McLean	CRYC/CGSC/	1	2	3	7	13	1
42 / 30473		ernesto rodriguez/ Eduardo Mintzias	Miami snipe fllet/	10	6	7/ZFP	1	24	2
15 / 30714		Manu Hens/ Yannick Laumans	RYCB/	9	1	7	9	26	3
47 / 29941		Doug Hart/ Ryan Hopps	MBYC/	3	5	8/ZFP	11	27	4
55 / 30337	mud flap girl	eric heim/ bruno mello	sdyc/	15	7	5	6	33	5
51 / 29114		David Hernandez/ Liam Munzenmaier	Cryc/Cgsc/	5	17	12/ZFP	2	36	6
19 / 30391		Eric Reinke/ Amy Benner	Severn Sailing Association/	14	16	4	3	37	7
17 / 29442	El Kabong	Peter Commette/ Nikki Bruno	Lauderdale YC/	4	9	8	18	39	8
54 / 15790	Unisono di Augie	Pietro Fantoni/ Alan Capellin	Circolo della Vela Muggia/	13	11	12	5	41	9
45 / 30629		Gavin O’Hare/ Gavin O’Hare	Eastport YC/	11	3	13	15	42T	10
44 / 30860	Spidey	Carol Cronin/ Kim Couranz	Severn Sailing Association/	6	13	9	14	42T	11
32 / 30027		Jensen McTighe/ Julia Melton	Lauderdale Yacht Club/	7	4	10	22	43	12
16 / CA 31114	Northern Pearl	Jorge L Yanez del Castillo	JericoSailing Center	18	15	11	4	48	13
13 / 30552		Henry Filter/ Megan Filter	SSA/	16	10	14	16	56	14
28 / 28814	Jupiter	Nicholas Voss/ Nicole Popp	CRYC/	2	8	17	33/DNF	60	15
21 / 30321	Black Jack	Freddie Sambolin/ Dorian Goldberg-Sambolin	CGSC/	17	19	18	13	67	16
34 / 29965		Claus Carpelan/ Freddy Wegelius	HSK/	23	23	16	10	72	17
14 / 30942		Don Hackbarth/ Merrill Varn	Atlanta Yacht Club/	22	20	15	17	74	18
25 / 30236		Kenneth Voss/ Kay Voss	CGSC/CRYC/	24	25	20	8	77	19
12 / 30336	Jupiter	Gonzalo Diaz/ Patty Bess	Coconut Grove Sailing Club/	12	18	26	24	80	20
27 / 30765		James Boyden/ Beth Boyden	Royal Canadian Yacht Club/	27	18/ZFP	21	19	85	21
23 / 30262		JOHN COOLIDGE/ Darby Capellin	none/	20	22	23	21	86	22
39 / nor30090		birrger jansen/ jeanette jansen	barum seilforening/	8	14	33/DNF	33/DNF	88	23
46 / 30743	La Maquina	Gregory Saldana/ Giovanni Stella	Barton Boat Club/	28	30	19	12	89	24
35 / FIN 30833	Meren Huiske	Hanna-Leena Lehtinen/ Juha Lehtinen	Helsingfors Segelklubb HSK/ Helsingfors Segelklubb HSK	21	26	25	20	92	25
41 / 28470		Stephan Irgens/ Monica Irgens	CSA/	25	24	22	23	94	26
49 / 31157		Martin Bebb/ Anne Rusnak	Windycrest, Tulsa, US Fleet 68/	19	21	33/ZFP	33/DNF	106	27
31 / 29314		Gord Richards/ Maram Kvaltine	Guelph Community Boating/	29	31	28	25	113	28
29 / 29673		halvor poulsson/ edel poulsson	baerum/	26	33/ZFP	30/ZFP	33/DNF	122	29
24 / nor29861		eivind tomas paulsen/ monica stubergh	barum seilforening/	33/DNS	29	29	33/DNF	124	30
36 / 26	Snipe	Leah Harper/ Don Harper	Lake Eustis Youth Sailing Foundation/	33/DNS	32	31	33/DNF	129	31
18 / 307		Cecilio Milian/ Elieser Sanchez	none/	33/ZFP	33/ZFP	33/ZFP	33/DNF	132	32