Colonial Cup

(Photo courtesy of Ted Morgan)

Annapolis, MD, USA, June 1, 2025. Final results after 4 races:

1. Ernesto Rodriguez & Taylor Scheuermann, 9
2. Trevor Davis & Diego Escobar, 19
3. Enrique Quintero & Lorena Fundora, 20
4. Augie Diaz & Madeline Baldridge, 21
5. Peter Foley & Henry Tindall, 27

Big Fleet, Big Breeze, Big Fun

by Darby Capellin

The first weekend of June saw another record-breaking Colonial Cup with 48 registrants. The Colonial Cup has become a premier east coast Spring Snipe regatta in the last few years as Annapolis has a strong local fleet that is welcoming to competitors, a great venue at the Severn Sailing Association and interesting and challenging sailing conditions. Additionally this year’s regatta was a qualifier for the 2026 Snipe World Championships. This all came together for some Serious Sailing, Serious Fun®! 

Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate for any racing for the fleet on Saturday. The Race Committee reported sustained winds over 25 knots with some gusts reaching 30. The fleet was postponed for an hour to see if the breeze would abate. It did not…and then the thunderstorms came! Sailors enjoyed socializing at SSA, getting an early jump on the evening’s festivities. Maryland crab cakes from The Boatyard were served at 4 o’clock before a nice regatta dinner, and the bar was open all evening! 

Sunday’s conditions made up for Saturday, with PRO Steve Podlich running 4 quality races in a puffy and shifty northwest breeze of 10-20 knots. Racing got quickly underway with U flags keeping the hard-charging fleet in check. The racing was exciting and staying in phase with the 30- degree shifts was paramount. The downwind legs brought great rides in the puffs, but were manageable with a flat sea state (though several highly skilled boats did capsize). Locals Trevor Davis and Diego Escobar thrived in the challenging conditions, notching first-place finishes to go with a 16th in race three, while Ernesto Rodriguez and Taylor Scheuermann of Miami kept it consistent with a 2, 2, 1, 4 scoreline.

Local Trevor Davis and Diego Escobar sled upwind to another bullet at Colonial Cup. The recent college graduates won 3 out of 4 races.

Rodriguez and Scheuermann took the top overall spot – a third straight Colonial Cup win for Ernesto! Davis and Escobar took 2nd, followed by Enrique Quintero/Lorena Fundora in 3rd. The top three clinched qualification for the 2026 Snipe World Championships in Menorca, Spain Sept 21-26, 2026. Rounding out the top five were Augie Diaz/Madeline Baldridge in 4th and Peter Foley/Rees Tindall in 5th. The top Junior team was Owen Fretwell/Colin Krebs from San Diego in 14th and the top Women team was Carol Cronin/Kim Couranz in 11th to complete the trophy winners. Not only was this a recent record for total teams, but also highs of 5 all-junior teams and 6 all-women teams. The fleet also included four married couple teams and two parent-child teams. How cool is that?

Juniors Flora Cole and Emilie Leung cutting through the spray on the Severn.

A new addition to this regatta was 4 local Junior boats competing with 3 crews from Annapolis Yacht Club Jr. Sailing and one from the SSA Juniors. 2 new Snipes have found a home at AYC, through a new program designed to elevate junior sailors into adult racing using the Snipe as a platform. As this was their first Snipe regatta, the Juniors were helped by Coach Bruno Mello, and also received a plethora of advice from the class experts – the Snipe fleet has a great culture of teaching and helping new sailors. The Juniors found the Snipe to be technical, tactical, athletic, and fun to sail, and are excited for the Snipe Junior Nationals here at SSA in August!

Above: Top Juniors Owen Fretwell and Colin Krebs. 

Below: AYC Junior teams Gavin Morris, Catherine Kammeier, and Mason Cook.

The Sportsmanship award went to Lexi Pline and Lydia McPherson, who assisted a bachelorette party on a rental electric Duffy that was caught in the thunderstorm Saturday afternoon. They received a blade bag donated by North Sails. The competitors were also met above the finish line by the Geaux Fast Sailing Beer Boat for a post race carbohydrate recovery beverage for the sail in on Sunday. 

Packing up ensued in a swarm of activity as much of the fleet was continuing on the Snipe US National Championships in Atlanta beginning in a few days. The Severn Sailing Association hosts Snipe racing all summer, with TESODs, Spring and Summer Series events, the ‘Dick C’ Cup (Richard C. Bartlett Memorial) A/B Division Regatta and the Snipe Junior National Championship & Annapolis Snipe Invite U30 Regatta (for sailors under 30) August 16-17.

Three-peat Colonial Cup Champ Ernesto Rodriguez with super-crew Taylor Scheuermann.

Local photographer Ted Morgan captured all the action and provided free high resolution downloads, thanks to support from Annapolis Snipe Fleet 532: https://tedmorganphotography.zenfolio.com/p819820618