North American Championship – Final

Ft. Lauderdale, May 21, 2017. 

(Photo courtesy of Lauderdale Yacht Club)

Regatta report by Carol Cronin, results and photos

26 boats from five countries

The conditions varied, but the winners never did: Ernesto Rodriguez/Kathleen Tocke won all eight races of the 2017 North American Championship, hosted by Lauderdale Yacht Club. Day one was the most challenging, with three triangle races in 15-20 knots of breeze and 4-6 foot mixed up seas. 

…

Once everyone was safely back onshore,  blisters and bruises were revived by the shared “fleet” bottles of champagne; it’s an LYC tradition to award winners with a bottle for each race won. If a team wins two races, the second (and, in this case, also the third) bottle goes to the “fleet.” (If we’d known Ernesto/Kathleen were going to win all eight races, we might have insisted they drink all that champagne by themselves.)

A tasty pasta dinner buffet revived us all, and while catching up with old friends and making a few new ones, we got a photo-walk down memory lane with John Payne photos from previous Florida regattas. We also saw photos from the day’s racing, including a few capsizes and also a few breaking waves. Despite the excellent food and company, most teams called it an early night.

For day two, the wind lightened up enough for PRO Tom Lihan to give us windward-leewards, finishing downwind. Unfortunately several teams (including some of the top finishes) didn’t realize that the course diagram required rounding the port gate before the quick broad reach to a short finish line; at the end of the day, thirteen teams were asked to retire from at least one of the three races. Ernesto and Kathleen posted three more bullets, leaving the race for second overall to a tight battle between juniors Jensen McTighe/Andre Guaragna and master skipper Augie Diaz, sailing with Eddie Mintzias. 

After three more bottles of champagne, another tasty dinner (this time with a Key West seafood theme) was accompanied by photos from Bill Branan and photos/video from Matt Ditzel.  Augie praised several teams for various acts of sportsmanship. And then National Secretary Art Rousmaniere challenged our sailing-fatigued brains with a math challenge, eventually determining that the highest combined team age (Old Man Diaz and crew) was more than 3 times as large as the lowest combined team age (Jensen and Andre). It was a great way to show the wide variety of ages represented at the regatta.

Sunday’s breeze lightened to 8-12 knots and the sea state fortunately subsided too, so the regatta finished up with two light air races. The light air didn’t matter to Ernesto and Kathleen (who posted two more bullets), but the conditions made it possible for Augie/Eddie to push Jensen/Andre back to third overall.

Back at LYC, a sandwich bar (and newly installed tents shading the tables) made for a festive gathering of the fleet, volunteers, sponsors, and other guests. Awards were given out for the Ron Payne Memorial Regatta, as well as the top junior team (Jensen/Andre).

Thanks to Connie and Peter Commette for stepping up to run this regatta (and congratulations on finishing sixth overall). Also thanks to all the sponsors and to LYC for making it such a great gathering of both Serious Sailing and Serious Fun.

Final results after 8 races (1 discard)

1. 31337, Ernesto Rodriguez/Kathleen Tocke, [1]-1-1-1-1-1-1-1- ; 7

2. 30288, Augie Diaz/Eddie Mintzias, [4]-3-4-2-4-4-3-4- ; 24

3. 30027, Jensen McTighe/Andre Guaragna, 2-4-2-[29/RET]-2-3-4-9- ; 26

4. PUR 29841, Raul Rios/Mac Agnese, 7-2-3-[29/RET]-3-5-5-2- ; 27

5. 31297, Doug Hart/Diego Escobar, 5-5-7-3-[8]-2-7-3- ; 32

… full results …

Pos	Sail	Skipper		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8		Total	Pos
1	31337	Ernesto Rodriguez/ Kathleen Tocke		[1]	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		7	1
2	30288	Augie Diaz/ Eddie Mintzias		[4]	3	4	2	4	4	3	4		24	2
3	30027	Jensen McTighe/ Andre Guaragna		2	4	2	[29/RET]	2	3	4	9		26	3
4	PUR 29841	Raul Rios/ Mac Agnese		7	2	3	[29/RET]	3	5	5	2		27	4
5	31297	Doug Hart/ Diego Escobar		5	5	7	3	[8]	2	7	3		32	5
6	29442	Peter Commette/ Connie Commette		6	[29/OCS]	5	4	7	7	2	8		39	6
7	30860	Carol CRONIN/ Linda Epstein		[29/DNC]	16	18	5	6	6	10	5		66	7
8	31391	Brett Davis/ Bryan Stout		13	7	11	7	[29/RET]	15	8	11		72	8
9	29511	Taylor Scheuermann/ Charlie Bess		[17]	14	16	9	11	8	13	6		77	9
10	31424	Andrew Pimental/ Megan Place		3	[29/OCS]	6	29/RET	5	16	6	14		79	10
11	PUR 30873	Agustin Lazaro-Lugo/ Jose Lazo		8	11	9	6	14	19	14	[20]		81	11
12	2944	Michael Morley/ Watt Duffy		15	8	13	8	[29/RET]	13	9	18		84T	12
13	29671	Tarasa Davis/ Kim Calnan		14	10	12	[29/RET]	9	10	16	13		84T	13
14	31087	Diego Figueroa/ Benjamin Vidal		10	15	[20]	10	15	12	20	17		99	14
15	28811	Jimmie Lowe/ Lori Lowe		12	9	10	[29/RET]	29/RET	14	17	12		103T	15
16	30571	Sharon Seymour-Johnson/ Tara Lobo		16	12	15	[29/RET]	13	17	15	15		103T	16
17	30364	Rogelio Padron/ Lorenzo Lopes		9	6	8	[29/RET]	29/RET	29/RET	12	16		109	17
18	29782	Zack Kelchner/ Nikki Bruno		18	[29/DNS]	29/DNS	29/RET	10	11	11	10		118	18
19	29602	Sarah Streater/ Elizabeth Ryder		[23]	13	19	12	16	21	19	19		119	19
20	30611	Sean Adams/ Jennifer Adams		21	19	21	11	17	20	[23]	21		130	20
21	31280	Art Rousmaniere/ Jennifer Rousmaniere		19	17	14	[29/RET]	29/RET	29/RET	18	7		133	21
22	30280	David Hiebert/ Bill Schoenberg		11	[29/DNF]	29/DNS	29/RET	12	9	21	29/DNS		140	22
23	31027	Juan Jose Ferretti/ Juan Carlos Casal		22	20	23	[29/DSQ]	18	18	22	22		145	23
24	29995	Ivan Riano/ Bruno Mello		25	[29/OCS]	17	14	20	29/DNS	25	29/DNS		159	24
25	30111	Christopher Hains/ Barbara Mann		[29/DNS]	29/DNS	29/DNS	13	19	22	29/DNC	29/DNC		170	25
26	29108	STEVE STEWART/ MARCUS HALL		20	18	22	[29/RET]	29/RET	29/RET	29/DNC	29/DNC		176	26
27	31355	George Antarr/ Donna Antarr		24	[29/DNF]	29/DNS	29/RET	29/RET	29/DNF	24	23		187	27
28	30336SNIP	Gonzalo E. Diaz/ Alex Guerrero		[29/DNC]	29/DNC	29/DNC	15	29/DNS	29/DNS	29/DNC	29/DNC		189	28