2015 Comodoro Rasco Regatta Carries on the Tradition

Miami, January 31-February 1, 2015. 

Once again, Coconut Grove Sailing Club and regatta chief Gonzalo “Old Man” Diaz put on a spectacular regatta that provided a convenient midwinter escape for those of us escaping the blizzards up north.

Three races were held on Saturday, and the fleet sailed out into a gorgeous sun-sparkled 10-15 knot northeasterly. Hiking muscles were tested all day, and the shifty conditions meant that no win was completely safe until the finish—even the rather substantial leads built by Ernesto Rodriguez/Eddie Mintzias in all three races.

Peter Commette/Hilary Noble gave chase with two seconds and a fourth, and Carol Cronin/Kim Couranz filled in the top 3 in two of the races. Other podium finishers for the day included Esteban Echavarria and crew, who finished 2nd in the first race of the event, and Andre Guaragna/Jensen McTighe who improved throughout the day (8,6,3).

The highlight of this event is always the Saturday night lasagne dinner, hosted by Old Man and Carmen Diaz. And the highlight of that evening (at least for me) is listening to the Old Man’s stories about sailing Snipes over the past seven decades. With color commentary provided by Peter Commette and a few others, we enjoyed the annual replay of Diaz home movies, featuring 1950s Snipe sailing at the Miramar Yacht Club in Havana. “Comodoro Rasco!”

This year, we also toasted and shared memories of Jerry Thompson, who (as Ken Voss put it), was “always at every Snipe regatta, everywhere.” Old Man closed out the storytelling with a remembrance of the 1956 Western Hemisphere championship, when Jerry (at age 17) tacked too close to him. Old Man threw him out of the race, which cost JT the overall championship. “Last year I told him I still consider him the true 1956 Western Hemisphere Champion,” Old Man said. And what greater tribute could a Snipe sailor receive?

Back on the Serious Sailing side of the equation, Sunday’s forecast was for a bit more breeze than we had on Saturday and we sailed out to the race course ready for another two races of full-out hiking. Toward the end of the first race, however, the breeze started to fade off, and crews were rewarded for changing gears and believing their eyes instead of the forecast.

Ernesto teamed up with a new “supercrew” for Sunday to win race 4, on his way to a perfect regatta. But a bad start in the final race forced them to play catchup, and though they climbed back to second halfway through the race (behind Carol Cronin/Kim Couranz), a shift and some bad luck just before the finish pushed them back to seventh. It was still enough to win the event, an impressive performance.

After racing and packing boats, we all gathered to sing “La Bomba” and even got Old Man to sing (or rather drink) a verse. Here’s to many more Comodoro Rasco events, and thanks again to Old Man and Carmen for carrying on this tradition.

1. Ernesto Rodriguez & Eduardo Mintzias, 11

2. Carol Cronin & Kim Couranz, 14

3. Peter Commette & Hilary Noble, 18

… full results …

Bow/Sail	Skipper	Yacht Club		1	2	3	4	5		Total	Pos
30473	ernesto rodriguez	NA		1	1	1	1	7		11	1
30860	Carol Cronin	Severn Sailing Association		3	3	5	2	1		14	2
29442	Peter Commette	LYC		4	2	2	5	5		18	3
29114	David Hernandez	CRYC		5	4	4	4	4		21	4
30181	Andre Guaragna	USSC Miami/Lauderdale Yacht Club		8	6	3	6	9		32	5
8653	hal gilreath	Florida		7	7	6	9	6		35	6
30510	Kyle Comerford	Annapolis yacht club/ssa		9	11	12	10	3		45	7
29992	Emily Hill	US Sailing Center		12	14	13	15	2		56	8
30724	Esteban Echavarria	Colombia		2	5	7	22/DNC	22/DNC		58T	9
30404	Bridget Wiatrowski	Winchester Boat Club		6	12	16	11	13		58T	10
29610	Jefferson Hall	OHCC		11	8	9	8	22/DNF		58T	11
29778	Roberto Guaragna	Miami sailing center		15	13	14	7	10		59	12
30236	Ken Voss	CGSC/CRYC		10	16	10	12	12		60	13
30743	Gregory Saldana	Barton Boat Club		14	9	8	22/DNC	22/OCS		75	14
30287	Evert McLaughlin	RCYC		22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	3	8		77T	15
26763	Kristen Herman	Saint Petersburg		16	17	17	16	11		77T	16
30089	Sharon Seymour-Johnson	Lauderdale Yacht Club		13	10	11	22/DNC	22/DNC		78	17
3028	Lisa Pline	Severn Sailing Association		22/DNS	15	15	13	14		79	18
30336	Gonzalo Diaz	Coconut Grove Sailing Club		22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	14	22/DNC		102	19
28814	Nick Voss	CRYC		22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC		110T	20
30288	Marina Gallego	Augie Diaz		22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNF	22/DNC		110T	20