Tropical Storm Floyd couldn't keep 43 hearty Snipe teams from driving to Boston, Massachusetts for this year's North American Championship, held this past weekend out of the Cottage Park Yacht Club and hosted by Fleet 77 (Winchester) and Fleet 777 (Medford). Competitors traveled from as far away as Florida and California for this event, with Canada and Bermuda also represented in the competition.

The storm flag was flying at the yacht club Thursday as competitors negotiated heavy rains and winds on the freeways and roads leading to the club. Boston traffic was at its worst, and flight delays and airport closures delayed the arrival of several of the sailors until Friday, the first scheduled day of sailing. While regatta planners had maintained hope that conditions would improve quickly enough to get in some racing on Friday, winds all day clocked in at between 30-50 mph out of the northwest as the rain ended, giving competitors an opportunity to explore Boston and experience the hospitality of the club. A party at the famous Union Oyster House in downtown Boston was great fun and attended by nearly everyone.

Saturday dawned cloudless with brisk northwest winds continuing, but at a more reasonable 18-22 mph level. The first two races were double triangles, followed by an Olympic course for the 3rd race. Major wind shifts (up to 25-30 degrees) made for common lead changes up the beats, with jet wash from landing airplanes at Logan Airport briefly enhancing some of these shifts at times. Still, it was a fantastic day of sailing on Boston Harbor. At the end of three races, the leader board showed Andrew Pimental from Rhode Island (sailing with San Diegan Carolyn Brown) with a narrow lead over defending N.A. champ and 3-time US champion George Szabo from San Diego, sailing with Carol Newman Cronin from Rhode Island. Annapolis sailors (and US Pan-Am Games representatives) Henry Filter and Lori Stout were close behind in 3rd overall. Competitors were greeted on the dock by cold, foamy beverages and, later, a great steak and shrimp dinner at CPYC with the band X-Ray Tango providing entertainment. Those not having the energy to dance found the pool tables and bowling lanes at the club to be a great outlet.

The wind finally pooped out on Sunday, but not entirely. A light, easterly sea breeze along with a strong current made for a challenging race #4, a double windward-leeward. The breeze increased and shifted right as race #5 got underway, though competitors favoring the left side of the course upwind were often rewarded with stronger breeze and less adverse current.

Despite the changing conditions in each race, Szabo/Cronin and Pimental/Brown finished 1-2 respectively in each race and, ultimately, in the series (with just 0.75 points separating them overall). Filter/Stout were able to hang on for 3rd place overall.

With Szabo having already qualified for next year's Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship by winning the US nationals in San Diego in July, Pimental and Filter take the top-2 US spots from the NA's to complete the US team for next year's regatta in Argentina. In addition, Tufts University sailors Peter Levesque and Clare Dooley qualify for next year's Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship as the top juniors from the NA's, having edged out Tufts teammates JR Maxwell and Deane Madson for the honor.

Levesque/Dooley, as the top-placing juniors at the NA's, also are the first winners of the new Chuck Loomis Memorial Trophy, donated to SCIRA by fleets 77 and 777, the Cottage Park Yacht Club and other friends of Chuck Loomis. As we all know, Chuck was a beloved member of the Snipe family and the Cottage Park Yacht Club who died suddenly last summer. His love of our class and lifelong support of junior sailors will be memorialized at each North American Championship through this trophy.

Berta Swanson and I thank all the competitors for coming in spite of the early bad weather. In addition, we thank all of our sponsors (listed on our web site), volunteers, the Cottage Park Yacht Club, the Winchester Boat Club and the Medford Boat Club, for all of their help in putting on such a great event. Finally, thanks go out to local Snipe sailors who graciously lended (NOT chartered) their boats to competitors without boats of their own in Boston. We hope (but do not expect) this will be the start of a trend...

Series Results: 1999 Snipe North Americans


1999 Snipe North Americans
Fleets 77 & 777
Cottage Park Yacht Club
Sept. 16-19, 1999
PosSail#Bow#HelmsmanCrewClubRace 1Race 2Race 3Race 4Race 5TotPtsPos
1USA 2967231George SzaboCarol CroninMission Bay 0.75 4 8 0.75 0.75 14.251
2USA 2949938Andrew PimentalCarolyn BrownSail Newport 3 6 2 2 2 15.002
3USA 2870245Henry FilterLori StoutSevern Sailing Assoc. 2 0.75 13 5 6 26.753
4USA 2722541John BakerJessi DemockSan Diego Yacht Club 6 5 6 3 8 28.004
5USA 2705412Bryan FishbackKerri FishbackNarragansett Bay 4 3 9 9 4 29.005
6USA 2914726Alex PlineSherri EldridgeSevern Sailing Assoc. 10 2 10 7 10 39.006
7USA 2844022James BowersMyrna Chan MacRaeWinchester 18 10 7 4 5 44.007
8USA 2920440Lee GriffithLisa GriffithSurf City Yacht Club 7 11 17 8 7 50.008
9USA 2674337Kevin FunschMike FunschHouston Yacht Club 5 13 4 14 16 52.009
10USA 2944228Carr MoodyRick Jarchov 14 8 3 16 17 58.0010
11USA 2805020William KelleyMonique Gaylor 11 18 0.75 15 14 58.7511
12USA 2806521John MandersonMaggie MandersonBarnegat Bay 9 16 5 18 13 61.0012
13USA 2857543Lee SackettTodd SackettMentor Harbor Yacht Club 15 12 11 22 3 63.0013
14USA 2999933John MacRaeBarb EvansWinchester Boat Club 13 14 24 6 11 68.0014
15USA 2936927Michael KaimJamie Lipp 8 15 15 33 12 83.0015
16USA 2953629Mike DelaneyMaggie Delaney 16 17 19 12 22 86.0016
17USA 261096Greg FisherJerelyn BiehlHoover Yacht Club 12 9 16 10 44DNC 91.0017
18USA 254125Art RousmaniereJennifer RousmaniereWinchester Boat Club 23 7 27 21 15 93.0018
19USA 285444Peter LevesqueClare DooleyTufts University Sailing Team 20 22 22 17 20101.0019
20USA 284446JR MaxwellDeane MadsonTufts University Sailing Team 29 19 18 23 18107.0020
21USA 2723815Steve KecklerSusie BowersAustin YC 25 24 30 11 23113.0021
22USA 2567935David NelsonMelissa NelsonWinchester Boat Club 21 25 23 27 19115.0022
23USA 2854224John LallyKerry O'BrienWinchester Boat Club 26 23 12 31 25117.0023
24USA 2648810Nigel MendezPatricia SchmidtWinchester Boat Club 30 21 20 26 21118.0024
25CAN 2804519Doug FolsetterMarnie AppletonRoyal Hamilton Yacht Club 17 29 32 20 26124.0025
26USA 246959Bob CoyleChuck D'AntonioMedford Boat Club 19 26 21 37 24127.0026
27USA 2977732Joel ZackinCeleste SuggsQuassapaug 24 20 25 30 28127.0027
28USA 2868042Brad DunnKenni DelpapaW.P.S.A. 22 28 26 25 27128.0028
29USA 264518Steve BravermanJessica CostaCottage Park Yacht Club 27 27 14 38 36142.0029
30USA 2681034Robbie GormanRob Gorman 28 31 28 19 37143.0030
31USA 2759117John MullaneLiz BrooksWinchester Boat Club 35 35 35 13 31149.0031
32CAN 2710336David WhymanAlex NelsonOYC 33 30 33 32 33161.0032
33USA 2499939Martin FraserAnnie GaffeyMedford Boat Club 31 36 36 28 34165.0033
34USA 261327James TomassettiCarol Tomassetti 44DNC 32 31 29 29165.0034
35USA 2710114David LenceJim BruerWinchester Boat Club 44DNC 33 44DNC 36 9166.0035
36USA 2844323Joseph DuganSusan KennedyBarton Boat Club 34 34 34 35 32169.0036
37USA 2799918Bill BaldwinSarah BaldwinWinchester Boat Club 36 37 29 42 40184.0037
38USA 250904Kevin Hethe...-YoungVivian Hethe...-YoungWinchester Boat Club 32 44DNC 44DNC 34 30184.0038
39USA 2709913Neal SneboldLaura SneboldWinchester Boat Club 38 38 44DNC 40 35195.0039
40USA 2699911Eugene SartoriMartin BechtholdWinchester Boat Club 44DNC 44DNF 44DNC 24 44DNC200.0040
41USA 2739316David HaywardAdele HaywardWinchester Boat Club 37 44DNC 44DNC 41 39205.0041
42USA 83001Ernie HardyChris AielloCottage Park Yacht Club 44DNC 44DNC 44DNC 39 38209.0042
43BER 197082Raymond PitmanNancy Pitman 44DNF 44DNC 44DNC 44DNC 44DNC220.0043

Principal Race Officer: Dan Mullane
Jury Chair: Hatch Brown