North American Championship

San Diego, CA, USA, September 8, 2019. Final results after 7 races (1 discard):

1. Enrique Quintero & Kathleen Tocke, 9
2. Peter Commette & Allie Shand, 19
3. George Szabo & Dian Waterbury, 21
4. Doug Hart & Diego Escobar, 21
5. Packy Davis & Julie Clavert, 27

Place	#	Skipper	Crew / Boat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total
1	31114	Enrique Quintero	Kathleen Tocke	1	1	2	2	2	1	– 3	9
2	31442	Peter Commette	Allie Shand	3	4	4	3	– 6	3	2	19
3	31441	George Szabo	Dianna Waterbury	4	2	5	– 8	1	2	7	21
4	31297	Doug Hart	Diego Escobar	5	3	3	1	5	4	– 6	21
5	30733	Packy Davis	Julie Calvert	7	5	1	5	4	5	– 8	27
6	29966	Evan Hoffman	Gus Wirth	6	– 7	7	4	3	6	5	31
7	30800	Rick Arneson	Sara Parker	2	6	6	7	– 8	7	4	32
8	29780	Jim Grubbs	Barrett Grubbs	8	8	8	– 12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	1	49
9	109	Matt Hecht	Rebecca McElvain	– 12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	6	7	8	9	54
10	29013	Don Bedford	Treat Bedford	– 12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	72
11	29672	Molly Pleskus	Grace McCarthy	– 12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	12 dnc	72

San Diego, CA (September 7, 2019)  The pressure was on for the Snipe fleet today. Ending yesterday’s races with a three-way tie for second between George Szabo, Doug Hart, and Peter Commette made today’s scores crucial to the outcome on the score sheet. In addition to their competition, the course got a little more crowded. Joining the Snipe fleet on their course for the San Diego Olympic Classes Regatta was the International Finn Class.

The wind picked up to about 9 knots before dropping down to 7, giving the boats a little more speed time then yesterday. All of the sailors were happy to pick up their pace.

Holding their position in first place is Enrique Quintero and his crew Kathleen Tocke with 7 points. Following behind in second is George Szabo and crew Dianna Waterbury with 14 points and Doug Hart and crew Diego Escobar in third with 16 points.

“We really just wanted to get off the line, go fast and go the right way. Unfortunately, the south breeze filled in before the first race and tightened up the shots a little. That wasn’t good as wind got light and we moved pretty slow. We finished last in the first race and won the second race… The third race we got to first but ended up coming in second. Overall it was a pretty good day. We will see what tomorrow brings,” Szabo explained.

Quintero and Tocke had another successful couple of races today, finishing in the top two for all of them. Hart and Escobar – also trying to break the tie – won the first race of the day, giving them a leg up over Peter Commette who sailed two threes and a six.

“I have a new super crew sailing with me, Allie Shand (12),” Commette started. She is athletic, coordinated and has an athletes mind. We had two races where we were in the noise a little bit. Towards the end things got really tight and Allie knocked out all of the gybes perfectly.”

After the races, sailors in all fleets enjoyed a social and presentation by Pan American Games Bronze and Silver medalists on SDYC’s Sail Wash Lawn. Following, sailors began their preparation for the final day of the Snipe North American Championship and SDOCR.

Tomorrow (Sunday), all fleets will make their way back out to their ocean course for their final series of races.

San Diego, CA (September 8, 2019) One race today completed this weekend’s Snipe North American Championship at the San Diego Yacht Club – and that one race curated some bizarre results on the score sheet.

Eleven Snipe’s competed in a series of seven races over three days. Each day saw a variety wind speeds that scrambled up the positions at the end of each day. Today, however, was particularly tricky. Due to very light winds on the course, the teams had to adjust the techniques they had been using the previous two days.

Enrique Quintero and crew Kathleen Tocke were able to finish first overall, staying in the top three of the fleet through the entire weekend. The real competition was between the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place sailors that kept trading positions. Peter Commette and Allie Shand, George Szabo and Dianna Waterbury, and Doug Hart and Diego Escobar might as well have been in a three-way match race through all seven races.

The final race was the last chance for one of those teams to finish second overall. The second place trophy went to Commette and his 12 year-old crew, Shand. “We helped make some of our own luck today. We stood up and looked at the smoke coming off a freighter waiting to come in to dock. The smoke was dead to the left of our wind, so we went left on the first beat. We came in second. I don’t know what Jimmy Grubbs saw, but whatever he saw, he saw it better,” joked Commette.

The most outstanding finish for the day was Jim and Barrett Grubbs. After staying in the back of the fleet in 8th for the first three races and receiving a DNC for races four through six, Grubbs took their one and only bullet of the weekend in the final race.

Finishing in third place overall was Szabo and Waterbury, who finished tied with Hart and Escobar with 21 points. Szabo’s scores from the rest of the week granted him third overall.

“Today it mixed up a lot. You had people in the front that hadn’t been in the front before, and that’s really good for the class,” said Tocke.

Quintero chimed in on what made their weekend so successful. “The key to our success today was boat speed and just staying focused. Basically, just being able to get on the next shift before everyone else.”

SDYC Commodore Jerelyn Biehl was the Chair behind the Snipe North American Championship. “The San Diego Yacht Club was proud to host the Snipe North American Championship as a part of the Olympic Classes Regatta. The last day was a bit challenging for the Race Committee but the competitors were patient and we got races in! We’re already planning for next year and are looking forward to hosting the Snipes and other Olympic class fleets again.”