St John’s Tea Party Regatta

Jacksonville, Florida, April 30 - May 1, 2016. Report by Hal Gilreath (Fleet 630) (Photo courtesy of Deb Fewell) Ernesto and RJ Rodriguez captured the 2016 Snipe Tea Party in strong fashion with a string of race victories. After a slow start in the first two races father and son rolled off four straight wins and then finished the seven race series with a third to win by four points over the father and daughter team of Hal and Emily Gilreath. A dozen teams from Boston to Charleston to Atlanta to Miami joined the local Jacksonville fleet to sail seven races on a gorgeous weekend. The weather was warm and sunny with the breeze varying from 5 to 15 knots. It was hard to beat this type of sailing as PRO, Pat Lambert, ran the races with skill and efficiency ...

by Hal Gilreath 05/02/2016

Jacksonville, Florida, April 30 – May 1, 2016. Report by Hal Gilreath (Fleet 630)

(Photo courtesy of Deb Fewell)

Ernesto and RJ Rodriguez captured the 2016 Snipe Tea Party in strong fashion with a string of race victories. After a slow start in the first two races father and son rolled off four straight wins and then finished the seven race series with a third to win by four points over the father and daughter team of Hal and Emily Gilreath.

A dozen teams from Boston to Charleston to Atlanta to Miami joined the local Jacksonville fleet to sail seven races on a gorgeous weekend. The weather was warm and sunny with the breeze varying from 5 to 15 knots. It was hard to beat this type of sailing as PRO, Pat Lambert, ran the races with skill and efficiency

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After a short delay on Saturday due to the lack of wind the first race got started with Hal and Emily holding off David Hernandez and Christine DaSilva.

The second race was similarly close w/ Hal and Emily battling it out with Andre Guaranga and Jacob Fisker-Anderson.

The breeze began to build for the third race and Ernesto and RJ turned on the jets in the breeze to sail past Hal and Emily upwind to take the third race.

They led wire to wire in the fourth race.

After a beautiful Florida Yacht Club dinner on the terrace, the fleet retired and then awoke Sunday to a bright sun and 10-12 knot breeze.

Ernesto and RJ knocked down races five and six in convincing fashion.

David and Christine remained consistent to keep the battle for second close. Hal and Emily then won the last race to capture second overall. Nick Voss and Nicole Popp closed out their regatta with two seconds to capture a close battle for fourth overall. The top three teams won custom FYC Tervis tumblers and the entire fleet enjoyed a lunch buffet along with beverages. We all celebrated William Kibler’s 16th birthday with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. The fleet packed up and headed home after a weekend of Serious Sailing and Serious Fun.

Many thanks to the FYC staff who put on a great weekend, Jodi L Weinbecker who helped run the regatta; and Pat Lambert, Lynn Ellis, Marie Abdullah, Andy and Worth Culver, Payne and Katherine Fewell, Gerry and of course Patti and Bucky Barrett and the Sarah Marie.

Sail # Skipper Crew Club 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total

1 31130 Ernesto Rodriguez RJ Rodriguez Miami 5 6 1 1 1 1 3 18

2 8653 Hal Gilreath Emily Gilreath Jacksonville 1 1 2 7 7 3 1 22

3 29114 David Hernandez Christine DaSilva Miami 2 4 4 3 5 5 4 27

4 28814 Nick Voss Nicole Popp Miami 8 7 5 5 9 2 2 38

5 29671 Tarasa Davis Alan Capellin Atlanta 10 5 7 2 3 7 5 39

6 30742 Chris Stang Lindsay Stang Charleston 3 8 6 4 10 4 6 41

7 30281 Andre Guaranga Jacob Fisker-Anderson Miami 7 2 3 9 2 12 9 44

8 30942 Don Hackbarth Nancy Gilreath Atlanta 6 11 13 6 4 9 7 56

9 30262 John Coolidge Sarah Piper Chattanooga 4 10 9 8 8 6 12 57

10 29966 Johnny Fewell Will Weinbecker Jacksonville 12 3 8 11 6 11 10 61

11 31259 William Kibler Alison Weinbecker Atlanta 11 9 11 10 11 8 8 68