North American Championship – Final

Four More Countries Qualify for 2019 Pan American Games – USA, Chile, Ecuador & Guatemala

Eight countries vied this past weekend for Pan Am Games country qualification at the 2018 Snipe North American Championship hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club. The reigning North American Champions from Miami, Ernesto Rodriguez and Kathleen Tocke, who dominated last year’s very windy event, continued their winning streak this year winning four of the eight races in very light to medium breeze. At their heels were the Chilean brother and sister team of Matias and Maria Seguel and San Diego area Snipe guru, Doug Hart sailing with the young Cragan Smith, who finished second and third respectively. San Diego sailors, Diego Escobar and Marianna Shand, won the top junior trophy with an impressive sixth place finish overall.

2019 will be the first year that the Snipe is required to be a mixed event in the Games. While most North American teams tend to sailed mixed, the class has welcomed more mixed teams coming from Central and South America, especially increased numbers of women at the helm, including Mexico’s Alejandra Valdez. New mixed Ecuadorean teams showed excellent speed this past weekend including Edgar Diminich and Irene Suarez, who placed fourth overall, and Jesus Bailon and Rafeala Arteaga who won race two and claimed fifth overall. Newcomers to the class, Jose Daniel Hernandez and Josselyn Echevarria from Guatemala secured the fourth country spot

Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico qualified their countries for the Games in March at the Snipe South American Championship. Peru, the Games host, is pre-qualified. The last country spot will be up for grabs at the Western Hemisphere and Orient Championship in two weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The US Pan Am Games team selection will be held in April 5- 7 at the Lauderdale Yacht Club. This event is open to international teams.

Kathleen Tocke