Summer 2008 - United States Snipe Sailing

Summer 2008 

US SNIPE SAILOR 

The Offi cial Magazine of the Snipe Class International Racing Association, USA

Tri-fold Promotional Brochures Available From SCIRA USA 

As part of our ongoing effort to provide tools and materials to help promote the Snipe 

Class, SCIRA USA has produced this promotional brochure. Get a supply now for your promotional 

activities. They’re FREE! Contact Mary Buckley in the SCIRA USA office.

US SNIPE SAILOR 

Volume 3, Number 2 

Summer, 2008 

Published by SCIRA USA 

P.O. Box 83866 Lincoln, NE 68501 

Editor/Publisher: 

John Buckley 

(402) 796-2510; buckley@inebraska.com 

Editorial Board: 

Rick Arneson 

rick.arneson@gmail.com 

Susan Odell 

seodell@yahoo.com 

Merrill Varn 

orts77@gmail.com 

Advertising: 

Mary Buckley 

(402) 796-2505; direx@inebraska.com 

SCIRA USA 

Board of Directors: 

David Odell (National Secretary) 

david.wanderer@gmail.com 

Bob Ewoldt (Chief Measurer) 

rewoldt@neb.rr.com 

Jack Gannon (District 1 Governor) 

jgmarineN10@comcast.net 

Doug Swenson (District 2 Governor) 

kswenson@interfold.com 

Chad Coberly (District 3 Governor) 

ccoberly@yahoo.com 

Tom Henderson (District 4 Governor) 

thenderson@princeminerals.com 

Adrienne Korkosz (District 5 Governor) 

korkosz@hotmail.com 

Steve Stewart (District 6 Governor) 

stewcon@san.rr.com 

Dick Loomis (District 7 Governor) 

sailmrfun@sbcglobal.net 

Mike Blackwood (Member At Large) 

firewood@wi.rr.com 

Lee Griffith (Member At Large) 

lee.griffith@contextgroup.com 

Don Hackbarth (Member At Large) 

dhackbar@bellsouth.net 

Kay Voss (Member At Large) 

kkilpatrick@rsmas.miami.edu 

Non-Voting Board Members: 

Mary Buckley (Executive Administrator) 

(402) 796-2505; direx@inebraska.com 

Ken Culver (Director of Finance) 

kculver@mo2inc.com 

Andrew Pontious (Legal Counsel) 

apontious@collette.com 

The US SNIPE SAILOR is published quarterly on 

March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1. 

The deadline for material submission is the 10th 

of the preceding month. 

The Snipe Silhouette, the International Snipe 

Class Crest, and the slogan Serious Sailing, 

Serious Fun are trademarks of the Snipe Class 

International Racing Association, and are 

registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office. 

On the cover: Juniors James McKeever and Bryce 

Whitehill at the 2007 Nationals, Lake Dillon, CO 

Photo: Fried Elliott 

www.friedbits.com/PhotoBits/Sailing/Snipe/index.php 

US SNIPE SAILOR Summer 2008 

From Our 

National 

Secretary 

Hello Snipe Sailors! 

Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to attend Snipe regattas in 

Jacksonville, Clearwater, Miami, Nassau and Seattle (417 inches of snow here in 

Park City this winter requires one to travel extensively to sail Snipes). With this 

many opportunities to sit on a bar stool and talk Snipe sailing, the one theme that 

rings loud and clear is just how much excitement, energy and enthusiasm there 

is in the Class right now. And the one question I hear over and over is “Dave, 

what can I do to get involved and help the Snipe Class grow?” We’ve had great 

brainstorming discussions about this over the past few months, and it seems that 

the answer differs to some extent for every individual. Nonetheless, I thought 

this would be a great forum to share some of the ideas that have been explored 

because many of you may be asking the same question. 

Introduce somebody you know to Snipe sailing. If you have ever talked up 

how much fun Snipe sailing is with a friend, colleague or neighbor, and then 

followed up by taking them out for a fun sail, then you have already discovered 

the joy of sharing sailing. As we head into the summer sailing season, extend that 

invitation to someone you know who has expressed an interest in sailing, and 

turn them onto sailing just as somebody did for you many years ago. 

Travel to an out of town regatta. Sure, it can be a bit of work to drop the mast, 

tie the boat down and get out of town early on a Friday. But the rewards are 

tremendous – often the road trip is as much fun as the sailing. Plus, you’ll get to 

race at a new venue: different sailing conditions, different clubhouse, different 

beers on tap, different people tacking on your air, all the elements that make 

Snipe sailing fun. I promise, however, that the most memorable aspect will be 

the new friends you make, and how much fun it will be to see them at the next 

regatta. 

Buy a new Snipe. Seriously, the Snipe Class cannot grow without a supply of 

good, quality used boats. I receive lots of emails from prospective Snipe sailors 

looking to join the Class but unable to find a good used boat. JibeTech is building 

great boats at a reasonable price, so if you’re thinking about it, go ahead and pull 

the trigger. You’ll get a great new boat and put a quality used boat on the market 

to enable a new member to join. If your spouse/partner pushes back, have them 

call me. 

Get more involved with your local fleet. I have observed that most highly 

successful fleets have a core group of three leaders: (1) the Fleet Captain who is 

great at motivating, organizing and leading, (2) the new member catalyst who is 

great at welcoming prospective new members into the fleet, organizing a loaner 

boat, helping them rig and figure it all out, and then assisting them with their first 

Snipe purchase, and (3) the tuning/speed expert who is both an accomplished 

Snipe sailor and a great communicator willing to openly share with anybody 

See National Secretary, page

National Secretary, from page 

what we all spend years learning. Think about taking on 

one of these roles. By getting involved, you’ll meet more 

people and will develop deeper friendships. 

Support our sponsors. Our sponsors play a key role in 

our success, not only from the advertising revenues we 

receive but from the products and services they develop 

and sell to us that make Snipe sailing so much more 

fun. Take a look at who our sponsors are – here in this 

magazine, on the web at snipeus.org, and regatta sponsors 

– and think about them when the next birthday, fathers 

day/mothers day holiday rolls around and the family 

is asking for ideas. It’s easier than you think – just say 

“white hull, blue deck, full cut main” and you’ll have a 

great gift coming your way! 

Publish or Perish. Tell a story, everybody loves to read 

a story – especially about Snipe sailing. The best stories 

usually revolve around the Serious Fun aspect so don’t 

be shy. The web site is completely self service, so you 

can easily post regatta stories, results and photos. The 

magazine is also keen to run articles from the members, 

so if you have an idea, share it with John Buckley, who is 

the editor of what you are holding. 

Volunteers are the backbone of the Snipe Class. As my 

spinal specialist says “You’re only as strong as your 

backbone…” Well, the same is true of the Snipe Class. 

There are lots of ways to get involved, and it doesn’t 

have to be a major time commitment. There are the usual 

opportunities to volunteer such as Fleet Captain, District 

Governor, US Board positions, and SCIRA International. 

These are all great fun, but if it’s more than you can 

take on now, consider running a local or district regatta, 

hosting a tuning clinic, writing an article, submitting 

photos to the magazine, helping with the website, or some 

other activity that you or your fleet is exploring. 

Hopefully some of these ideas resonate, and will help you 

find an avenue to channel your excitement, energy and 

enthusiasm into the Snipe Class. 

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the Junior and 

Senior Nationals in San Francisco. 

David Odell 

SCIRA USA National Secretary 

Cover up 

High Quality Snipe Covers 

Daggerboard Cover w Deck Cover w Hull Cover 

Mast Cover w Rudder Cover 

To order: 

www.OneDesign.com/covers 

NORTH COVERS 

Making the Fun Last Longer 

www.snipeus.org

Serious Sailing, Serious Fun: 

A Sparkplug’s Saga of Fleet 

Growth 

The Annapolis Snipe Fleet Loaner Boat Program 

By Jon Anthony 

The Annapolis Snipe Fleet boat program in Annapolis 

has been a rousing success with many 

people contributing - not only from Annapolis, 

but all over the USA. Many Snipe sailors and 

friends of the Class like Bob and Laramie 

Daniel, who contributed the boat, and others who offered 

up sails, a new rudder, hardware, spreaders, rigging 

time, elbow grease and professional expertise in order to 

splash “The Loaner.” 

Our objectives were simple, and included the concept 

of bringing a boat into the Fleet, rehabbing her, tapping 

multiple skill sets of volunteers, and then inviting others 

out to sail with us. The ultimate goal was to grow the 

Fleet by three boats for the 2007 season - which we measure 

from November 1 to October 31. The Fleet treasury, 

Fleet members, and Class Association worked together 

to make this happen with volunteer effort. Those services 

included Legal, Accounting, Rigging, Boat Builder, 

Nonprofit and Marketing which made it all happen. 

The real success of this program has been to raise the 

noise level about the Snipe Fleet in Annapolis. It is very 

rewarding for me to hear other Fleet members invite a 

friend or sailing acquaintance to come down and join us 

on The Loaner or other Fleet member’s boat as crew or 

part-time skipper for a TESOD (SSA Tuesday Evening 

One Design) or weekend regatta. As a result of these 

efforts, we have had many new people join the Fleet 

during SSA’s 2007 season. We have had eight boats join 

the Fleet during this time, with six storing their boats 

on the SSA lot. During the same time frame we lost two 

skippers due to family obligations, but those boats were 

brokered to the new members coming in. In other words, 

we are net ahead eight new skippers and crew for 2007 

versus our goal of three new Fleet members. A total of 

39 new people sailed Snipes with us in 2007 either on 

The Loaner or on other Fleet members’ boats. 

The Loaner was used almost weekly, and I would 

like to emphasize that she was most useful for TESOD, 

which is two hours of exciting weekday evening around 

the buoy racing at SSA with multiple races. Many skippers 

used the boat at least three times. This included the 

opportunity for multiple starts, mark roundings, and the 


ability to gain experience and appreciate how much Serious 

Fun can be had in a Snipe. The emphasis for our new 

friends was on crewing, tiller time (depending on their 

experience level) and some Serious Fun. Each week it 

became challenging getting everybody on a boat during 

TESOD, and many times I found myself placing people 

with different skippers and then getting everyone to the 

line. 

Year over year growth from 2006 to 2007 on TESOD 

and weekend races has climbed from five to seven boats 

all the way up to ten or twelve boats on the starting line 

each week. During the 2006 SSA Snipe Summer Series, 

we had three Snipes show for a regatta. The same regatta 

in 2007 had ten boats registered. Again, it has created 

noise level at the club, in the Annapolis Sailing Community, 

and in the Annapolis Snipe Fleet. 

During the course of the 2007 season, we worked to 

reserve the three club series weekend races – the Colonial 

Cup, the Oxford, and the Frigid Digit - for very 

experienced dinghy racers, with mixed success. We had 

to pass on the Spring Series, as the boat was not fully 

documented, insured or rigged yet. 

“A total of 39 new people 

sailed Snipes with us in 2007, 

either on The Loaner or on 

other Fleet members’ boats.” 

While we had some success in 2007, we hope to build 

on that effort in 2008 by promoting the availability of the 

boat by using community outreach, establishing better 

systems management, fundraising efforts, and working 

on a reservation system. 

A special thank you goes out to all the people who 

made this possible. Bob & Laramie Daniel (the boat contribution), 

Gavin O’Hare (Rigging), Brian Bissell, North 

Sails One Design (Spreaders and Rigging), Alex and 

Lisa Pline (Storage, Rigging, Marketing), Andy Bailey 

(Boat Detail), Brian Hetherington (Rigging), Andy Pimental, 

JibeTech (Rudder), Alex and Lorie Stout (Stout 

Gear). Eric Reinke, Andy Pontious, Ken Culver, Mary 

Buckley, David Odell, Don Hackbarth, Barb Evans, Jon 

Anthony, and the SCIRA USA Board of Directors all had 

a hand in this project as well.

Bob and Sandy Rowland 

Win 2007 Minneford 

Bob and Sandy Rowland, of the Cowan Lake Snipe Fleet, are 

repeat winners of the Minneford Trophy for the 2007 season. 

Emblematic of the US boat owner having on file the highest 

net point score in fleet races for the official racing season of 

SCIRA, the Minneford trophy is one of the oldest, if not the 

oldest, trophy of the Snipe Class International Racing Association 

in the United States. It was first awarded to J. M. Martin of 

the Dallas Sailing Club in 1932. 

Eight fleets turned in point scores for 2007, from 71 skippers 

(up from seven fleets and 65 skippers last year). If you haven’t 

been racing fleet races, make plans now to do so this season, 

so that you can compete for the Minneford Perpetual Trophy 

for 2008. 

Bob began 

sailing when he 

was 8 years old in 

a Sailing Seashell 

(pram) in the 

Chain of Lakes 

in Illinois. In his 

teens, while sailing 

C Scows, he 

met Sandy and 

invited her on the 

boat as the third 

crew when conditions were windy. When they got married and 

moved to Ohio, the local Cowan Lake Fleet wasn’t racing C 

Scows, so they had to choose between Thistles and Snipes for 

competition. Wanting to be free to travel to regattas without 

looking for a third crew, they bought a Snipe and have been 

sailing and traveling to regattas ever since. 

Through their years of sailing Snipes, they have sailed several 

other classes. They raced FJs, won the Rhodes Bantams 

Internationals 2 times, and won the Windmill Nationals once. 

They found they really liked Y Flyers, when they participated 

in the Championship of Champions at Carlyle IL when it was 

sailed in Y Flyers. They have won the Y Flyer Nationals 3 times 

and the Internationals 2 times. They now limit themselves to Y 

Flyers and Snipes, choosing the closest regatta when there is a 

conflict. Since the busy season for their company, The Sailors’ 

Tailor, happens to be the racing season, it’s difficult taking time 

off for longer trips. 

“We’ve made so many great friends locally and across the 

country sailing Snipes through the years. It’s great to participate 

in a sport that allows us to work as a team striving for 

the same goal. The keen, tight competition of Snipe sailing has 

taught us that you have to be sharp at all times, because any 

time you make a mistake, there is always another Snipe right 

there to take your place. Selecting the Snipe was a good fun 

lifetime decision.” 

Having won the Minneford several times, it’s clear that in 

addition to their regatta travels, they find time to race at home 

on Cowan Lake (home of the Riff Raff Regatta), participating 

in 28 Fleet races this year. 

Sandy says: “We have the Minneford hanging in our showroom, 

and people from all boat classes really marvel at how 

many years that trophy goes back, and how old the Snipe Class 

is! 

Here are the complete results for 2007: 

Skipper Fleet Races Score 

Robert Rowland Cowan Lake (OH) 28 1722.00 

Joe Norton Green Lake (WI) 12 1693.70 

Clifford Wright Seattle (WA) 24 1678.40 

John Buckley Lincoln (NE) 9 1663.67 

Jim Bowers Winchester (MA) 16 1660.00 

John MacRae Cottage Park (MA) 12 1656.00 

John Fry Seattle (WA) 9 1655.10 

Tom Townsend Indianapolis (IN) 18 1633.70 

William Thomas Lincoln (NE) 14 1629.00 

Chris Scofield Iowa/Nebraska (IA) 12 1623.58 

Jay Carey Cowan Lake (OH) 27 1620.00 

Ted Garman Seattle (WA) 20 1614.80 

Andrew Zeratsky Green Lake (WI) 9 1612.10 

Bob Coyle Cottage Park (MA) 22 1611.00 

Pat Keane Lincoln (NE) 13 1599.54 

Art Rousmaniere Winchester (MA) 30 1591.00 

Mike Recker Iowa/Nebraska (IA) 10 1587.00 

Sue Lodico Winchester (MA) 17 1587.00 

Andrew Davis Winchester (MA) 18 1579.00 

William Worster Cowan Lake (OH) 27 1576.00 

John Lally Winchester (MA) 35 1573.00 

George Rood Iowa/Nebraska (IA) 8 1572.38 

Bruce Kitchen Cowan Lake (OH) 17 1570.00 

Ken Kinas Green Lake (WI) 14 1568.30 

Jennifer Rousmaniere Winchester (MA) 17 1561.00 

Katia Smith Seattle (WA) 7 1558.90 

Andy Klein Winchester (MA) 28 1554.00 

Harry Levinson Winchester (MA) 18 1549.00 

Jim Russell Lincoln (NE) 11 1542.91 

Mac Jacob Cowan Lake (OH) 11 1528.00 

Robert Ewoldt Lincoln (NE) 10 1525.70 

www.snipeus.org

Skipper Fleet Races Score 

Mary Jane Bumby Green Lake (WI) 7 1519.30 

Jack Wagener Lincoln (NE) 13 1518.31 

Charles Fawcett Seattle (WA) 19 1512.80 

John Tagliamonte Cottage Park (MA) 11 1509.00 

Tom Colligan Seattle (WA) 15 1496.10 

Rick Scofield Iowa/Nebraska (IA) 11 1482.64 

Joseph Frey Lincoln (NE) 5 1481.80 

John Lees Winchester (MA) 19 1480.00 

Wendy O’Toole Cowan Lake (OH) 15 1472.00 

Martha Rogers Seattle (WA) 8 1449.50 

Tug Townsend Indianapolis (IN) 14 1443.10 

Charles Higginson Lincoln (NE) 7 1441.00 

Robert Whitman Cowan Lake (OH) 15 1436.00 

Chuck Lewis Lincoln (NE) 5 1435.20 

Jack Gannon Winchester (MA) 6 1432.00 

Bill Townsend Indianapolis (IN) 14 1421.80 

Robert Recker Iowa/Nebraska (IA) 10 1419.30 

Carey Nelson Cowan Lake (OH) 20 1419.00 

Steven Rice Cowan Lake (OH) 11 1415.00 

Gene Sartori Winchester (MA) 8 1407.00 

Charles Hagedorn Winchester (MA) 9 1405.00 

Eric Kelley Seattle (WA) 7 1367.10 

Alex Campisteguy Seattle (WA) 15 1366.90 

Jim Foreman Cowan Lake (OH) 6 1358.00 

Alan Spring Cowan Lake (OH) 10 1352.00 

Frank Workman Indianapolis (IN) 9 1347.80 

Richard Lazarus Winchester (MA) 7 1338.00 

Martha Smith Seattle (WA) 5 1331.80 

Martin Fraser Medford (MA) 5 1318.00 

Peter Harding Iowa/Nebraska (IA) 5 1311.20 

Neal Snebold Winchester (MA) 5 1305.00 

Bill Swanton Winchester (MA) 5 1303.00 

Tobey King Seattle (WA) 6 1297.80 

Doug Winkler Lincoln (NE) 5 1293.60 

Peter Crawford Lincoln (NE) 10 1287.60 

Mark Schultz Iowa/Nebraska (IA) 8 1280.13 

Frank Wilder Indianapolis (IN) 6 1267.20 

Randy Nelsen Lincoln (NE) 5 1250.20 

Bill Gustafson Lincoln (NE) 7 1248.29 

Rajesh Kumar Lincoln (NE) 5 1193.40 


Fleet Building in Atlanta 

Peggy Davis, of Atlanta Snipe Fleet #444, wrote to 

tell us of a fleet building activity they conducted in 

conjunction with a recent Opti regatta at the Atlanta 

Yacht Club. 

Peggy says: “Here’s a good suggestion for other 

fleets to use to attract new members. At the Atlanta 

Yacht Club’s Opti regatta May 3-4, we put 

out copies of the (International) Snipe Bulletin, the 

US Snipe Sailor, lots of the Snipe promotional brochures, 

and had the attached flyer (below) posted 

on several walls. 

“After trophy presentations, we had our boats in 

the water, ready to take out anyone who wanted to 

sail a Snipe. Three of the clubs represented did not 

have Snipe fleets, and one other has a nearly dead 

fleet we are trying to reinvigorate. Several of our 

own Opti sailors went out also. It was a very successful 

event!” 

Local Snipe sailor Tarasa Davis, past member of the Olympic Sailing Team, 

sails at our Halloween all-snipe Regatta 

Sail a SNIPE on Sunday!!! 

Opti sailors or their families 

May 4 – after trophy presentations 

Our local Snipe fleet would like for you to 

experience the boat we love. It’s perfect for very 

young sailors to crew, and especially good for 

teenagers and women to skipper. With over 

30,600 boats and 883 fleets worldwide, Snipes 

offer competition few classes can rival.

Cross-training 

in a Snipe 

By Carol Cronin 

This is the first in what will be a 

series of articles by Snipe sailors 

who sail and race other types 

of boats, about how the various 

experiences carry across classes. 

From that great 21st century 

source of information, 

Wikipedia: “Cross-training 

refers to training in different 

ways to improve overall 

performance.” 

I first heard the phrase “cross-training” 

connected with the Snipe in 1994, when 

I teamed up with Henry Filter. Henry 

was campaigning toward the 1996 

Games in the newly designated Olympic 

Laser; I was halfheartedly sailing the 

Europe dinghy. In order to justify 

missing more work to hang out with our 

buddies, we jokingly told each other that 

Snipe sailing would provide valuable 

“cross-training” for our Olympic 

ambitions. 

Joking or not – it turned out to be 

true. Although the Snipe weighs three 

times as much as the Laser or Europe, it 

provided us with a great way to get in 

more racing while taking a break from 

the pressures of Olympic sailing. It also 

gave us a regatta off from that famous 

singlehanded sailor’s disease, talking to 

yourself. And only a few bits of gelcoat 

repair resulted. (Raise your hand if we 

ever tagged your port corner executing a 

tight “Laser duck.”) 

Cross-training in the Snipe kept us 

fresh without burning us out. We were 

still sailing, still working quad and core 

muscles and biceps in that completely 

unchoreographed dance that is dinghy 

sailing, still looking for breeze and 

trying to figure out which gate mark 

was favored. We also gained valuable 

international experience. And yet we 

were almost always surrounded by 

friendly faces. Best of all, there was no 

funding riding on our finish. 

Fast forward seven years past many 

Carol and teammates Liz Filter and Nancy Haberland all used their Snipe experience 

to win two races in the Yngling at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Daniel Forster photo. 

Snipe regattas to 2001, when I started 

steering another newly designated 

Olympic class: the Yngling. Several 

sailors I respect pointed out that my lack 

of tiller time would make it tough to 

win the Trials against women who had 

been steering since (it seemed like) birth. 

Henry suggested a way to catch up: steer 

a Snipe. 

“ Get back into the 

Snipe to learn to steer 

a Yngling? What a 

crazy idea… ” 

Get back into the Snipe to learn to 

steer a Yngling? What a crazy idea. The 

lead mine that is the Olympic women’s 

keelboat weighs in at a cool 1425 

pounds. Its rudder is eight feet forward 

of the transom. It has a round (read: 

chine-free) hull, and its weird balloon of 

a sail (the spinnaker) had already caused 

me and my teammates (Liz Filter and 

Linda Epstein, both Snipe veterans) all 

kinds of learning curve headaches. What 

I needed was more time steering the 

unknown craft, not a step back into my 

chined past. While I appreciated Henry’s 

suggestion (and the justification, once 

again, for more time with my buddies), 

it hardly seemed that Snipe sailing 

was the key to improving my Olympic 

chances. 

Yet again, our favorite fifteenfooter 

proved its worth as an Olympic 

cross-trainer. Although my busy travel 

schedule only permitted one or two 

Snipe events each year, those regattas 

gave me valuable tiller time – as well 

as a fresh perspective on the difference 

between two and three person teams, 

which could be a whole article on 

its own. I was also able to work on 

starting, a personal weakness, in a less 

intimidating environment. And most 

importantly, it reinforced the concept 

that friendships are longer-lasting than 

regatta results, which I successfully 

carried back to the Yngling fleet. 

8 www.snipeus.org

Jumping into a Snipe did, however, 

require adjustments to my newly 

acquired Yngling habits. I cringe with 

the memory of some poor soul (Eric 

Reinke, perhaps?) patiently waiting to 

round behind me at my fi rst leeward 

mark, while I left a Yngling-sized 

hole between me and the tetrahedron. 

(Remember the Yngling’s rudder 

location: eight feet forward of the 

transom.) And at a Women’s Nationals 

when I asked Peter Commette why 

we weren’t pointing, he said that he 

and Connie could tell which boat we 

were (from a distant powerboat) by my 

undertrimmed main. In the Yngling, you 

pull on the mainsheet until it “stops”. 

You’re never going to bend its lightpole 

of a mast with the extra tug that is so 

vital to pointing well in the Snipe. 

Fortunately my crews were patient, 

and boathandling and trimming errors 

were far outweighed by the downwind 

thrills. At a combined crew weight of 

280 in a boat that weighs less than 400 

pounds, jumping up on a plane just 

seemed to happen. I also relearned the 

link between tiller pull and heel angle, 

which helped me be more sensitive 

SCIRA USA Charter Boat 

Insurance Program 

If you plan to make charter boats available at your regatta 

this year, consider taking advantage of SCIRA USA’s 

Charter Boat Insurance Program. It’s a simple, inexpensive 

way to protect charter boats, easing the concern of owners 

that might otherwise be unwilling to loan their boats out for 

events. For just $40 per boat, the insurance will cover any 

damage to the boat ($250 deductible). 

Available to all members and registered boats, this is yet 

another benefi t of membership. More information and 

the necessary forms are available on the website ( www. 

snipeus.org/news/rules.asp) or contact Mary Buckley in the 

SCIRA USA offi ce. 

when I stepped back into the Yngling. 

And at the end of each race day, I got to 

share a beer with my Snipe competitors, 

which for many reasons is a rarity in 

most Olympic circles. 

I fi t in as many Snipe regattas as I 

could during my campaign, and by the 

2004 Trials I had gained the experience 

I needed to beat all those women who’d 

been steering other boats since birth. I 

also realized how lucky we are in the 

Snipe Class. We enjoy high quality 

competition in a variety of venues, close 

to home or around the world, without 

sacrifi cing the luxury of a regular life 

between regattas. That rare combination 

should be cherished and guarded as one 

of our most important traditions. 

Whether your goal is Olympic glory 

in dinghies or keelboats (long may they 

shine) or just learning a new sailing skill, 

the Snipe can help. Regular Snipe racing 

can improve results in a less serious 

class, provide a relaxing escape from 

more serious events, or simply offer 

a regatta experience outside of your 

comfort zone. If you prefer open water 

venues, get your butt and your boat to 

the San Francisco Nationals for sure, but 

also try out a lake regatta like Quassy 

or Huntington. And if your specialty 

is the shifty fl at water of, say, Mystic 

Lake, Massachusetts (where I almost 

got divorced), sign up for an open 

water event like the North Americans 

at Cottage Park in September. That is 

really what cross-training is all about; 

digging out of our comfortable ruts, in 

order to learn something new. 

Carol Cronin represented the USA in 

the inaugural women’s keelboat event 

at the 2004 Olympics, where she and 

her teammates, former Snipe sailors Liz 

Filter and Nancy Haberland, won two 

races and fi nished tenth overall. She 

has competed as both skipper and crew 

in the Snipe Class since 1990, and won 

the US Nationals in 2000 with George 

Szabo. She runs a graphic design and 

writing business, and lives in Jamestown, 

RI with her husband Paul and their wellloved 

20 year old cat.Carol and crew 

Kim Couranz recently won the 2008 

Women’s Snipe Nationals, which were 

held in Seattle. 

Snipe Bumper Stickers! 

SNIPE 

SNIPE 

SNIPE 

SNIPE 

SNIPE 

Serious Sailing, Serious Fun ® 




www.snipeus.org 






–Submitted by Merrill Varn 

You’ll get one when you pay your 2008 dues. 

If you need more contact Mary Buckley in the 

SCIRA USA offi ce. 

US SNIPE SAILOR Summer 2008 9

Snipe Personalities 

By John Rose 

Fred Schenck is a well-known Southern California 

sailor who was US Snipe Champion in 1957 and 

SCIRA Commodore in 1958. Fred celebrated his 

86th birthday last fall, and lives in Santa Ana, 

California, close to nearby Newport Beach, where 

he logged many sailing successes. 

Fred started sailing as a teenager, in about 1935. He 

recalls that his mother helped convince his father that 

he should be introduced to sailing in the Alamitos 

Bay area near Long Beach, California. He recalls 

that his fi rst Snipe was #1459, built in Santa Monica, 

California, and it would have been almost new at the time. 

His father drove Fred and his friend and crew-to-be, George 

Lounsberry, over to Santa Monica to see the Snipe. It had a 

mahogany-planked hull, canvas-covered deck, daggerboard (an 

advantage for racing), a rectangular mast with track, sails by 

Kenneth Watts, but no trailer. Fred’s father said they would buy 

the Snipe (for $175) if the seller would launch the boat so Fred 

and George could sail it from Santa Monica to Alamitos Bay – a 

distance of more than 21 miles – on the open ocean! When Fred 

commented to his father whether there was a concern about 

capsizing, his father replied that the boat was made of wood 

and would fl oat, and that the kids could swim. (Author’s note: 

not sure that any parent would allow something like that these 

days!) After an all-day sail, they made the trip to the new home 

base. His father had a new steel trailer custom-made for the 

Snipe, put a new deck on the boat and renamed it Winsome. 

Fred’s mother painted a small board which read “We Hope” 

and added it to the boat’s transom. Fred didn’t do well in racing 

at fi rst, but learned the skills and eventually was competitive 

with successful local Snipe sailors of the era such as Darby 

Metcalf and Bill Gard, who had early Snipes (#2047 and 2048) 

built by Lou and Ted Varalyay at a boatyard called Yachtsmen’s 

Services in Wilmington, Calfornia. 

In 1938, Fred competed in his fi rst major national Snipe 

racing, at the Snipe Junior Nationals and Snipe Internationals 

at Lake Wawasee, Indiana, sailing a borrowed Snipe. Then in 

1939, Fred’s father ordered a new Varalyay-built Snipe #3456 

Grey Goose which Fred sailed to second place in the Junior 

Nationals, then he loaned it to Walter and Bob Hall of Oakland, 

California to compete in the Snipe Internationals – which they 

won (see article in SCIRA Snipe Bulletin, Spring 2008 issue, 

for more details). 

Fred says he always considered himself a better crew than 

skipper – which is open to debate, for sure. But Fred did crew for 

Darby Metcalf when he won the Snipe Internationals in 1940, 

Clark King when he won the Snipe Nationals in 1950, and also 

crewed for Tom Frost when he won the Snipe Nationals in 1953 

and 1954 – so he is a great crew! As skipper, he competed in 

the Snipe Nationals in 1955 (fourth in the Heinzerling division) 

and 1956 (sixth in the Wells division), and then hit the jackpot, 

winning the Snipe Nationals in 1957. Fred went to the 1957 

Snipe Internationals in Portugal and fi nished third in that 

competition. Fred also competed in the 1958 Snipe Nationals 

(fourth in the Heinzerling division) and in the 1959 Snipe 

Nationals (thirteenth in the Heinzerling division). 

In the 1960s, he “drifted away” from racing Snipes, but 

owned other racing sailboats. In dinghy racing, he’s owned 

Lehmann 10 and 12 racing dinghies, an Olympic Class Finn 

dinghy (he says he was too light to compete successfully), a 

Sabot dinghy (senior champion), an International 14 dinghy 

(Pacifi c Coast champion). He also owned keel boats, including 

two Dragon Class sloops, and competed in Olympic trials in 

New Orleans and Long Beach - which convinced him that he 

was basically a “centerboard sailboat sailor.” In more recent 

years, he has raced a radio-controlled (RC) sailboat but is no 

longer active in that. 

But Fred does enjoy socializing with his former Snipe friends, 

and meets frequently with Jerry Thompson and just recently 

had a “reunion breakfast” with past well-known Snipe sailors 

Clark King (Snipe National Champion 1950 and 1956), Don 

Ayres, Mike Jager and Phil Ramser – all big name successful 

Snipe competitors in the Los Angeles area in the 1940s through 

the 1960s. 

After all these years of Snipe sailing, Fred has some great 

tales to tell, and entertains his many friends with funny and 

interesting stories. He is truly a “Snipe Personality.” 

Four famous Snipe sailors, with seven Snipe International 

or National Championships among them. Front row (l to r): 

Darby Metcalf (1940, 1941 International Champion), Tom 

Frost (1953, 1954 National Champion), Clark King (1950, 

1956 National Champion). Back (standing): Fred Schenck, 

1957 National Champion and 1958 SCIRA Commodore). Fred 

also crewed for each of the other three at least once in their 

respective Championship wins. 

Photo courtesy Fred Schenck, by Beckner Photo Service. 

It was probably taken sometime in the mid-1950s, at the 

Newport Harbor YC in California. 

10 www.snipeus.org


Carol Cronin (Jamestown, RI) and Kim 

Couranz (Annapolis, MD) won the 2008 

U.S. Women’s Snipe National Championship. 

Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle hosted 

the regatta, run May 10–11 on Shilshole Bay, 

just north of downtown Seattle. 

“Nearly half the fleet won a race over the 

course of the weekend, which just shows 

how tight the competition was,” noted Couranz, 

who sails out of Severn Sailing Association 

in Annapolis. 

Seattle locals Jen Glass and Kati Belden 

finished just a point behind Carol and Kim 

with 18 points; Lindsay Bergan, sailing with 

her mom Carol Buchan, also represented 

Seattle well with a third–place, 22–point finish. 

Annapolis Snipe Fleet 532’s Lisa Pline 

and Bridget Creney finished fourth with 23 

points. 

Eight races were run over the course of 

the weekend. The women faced challenging 

conditions, with current running at up 

to two knots and shifty winds ranging from 

three to twelve knots. Water and air temperatures 

hovering in the low 50s also provided 

gear challenges, as competitors debated the 

relative merits of dry suits and neoprene. 

The race course area is affected by weather 

story by kim couranz 

12 www.snipeus.org

photos by david odell 

coming in from the Pacific Ocean that skirts 

around the Olympic Mountain Range to the 

west of Puget Sound. This makes for tricky 

sailing in the “convergence zone,” where 

the northerly and southerly winds meet after 

making their way around the mountains. 

The regatta’s location in a site relatively 

new to Snipe sailing kept the fleet small at 

only nine boats. But the quality of the sailors 

was outstanding, drawing top sailors from 

many one-design classes. Competitors included 

winners of previous national championships 

in several classes, and a number 

of them have been named to U.S. Sailing 

Teams over the years (representing four different 

classes—470, Laser Radial, Yngling, 

and Europe) and represented Snipe Women’s 

World Championship podium finishes. 

Seattle’s Snipe Fleet 444 did a marvelous 

job with onshore activities—including providing 

charter boats and support, meeting the 

competitors at the dock each afternoon with 

much-needed warm beverages, and cooking 

dinner for the entire fleet for Saturday’s casual 

evening and Sunday’s awards banquet. 

Local knowledge for Puget Sound includes: 

“Always say yes when a native Seattle chef 

says they’re making salmon”! 


Sailing Upwind 

in Chop 

By Peter Commette 

In the Spring 2008 issue of US Snipe Sailor we printed 

an article that distinguished between the two basic 

types of waves: “swell” and “chop”. It also addressed 

the issue of sailing in swells. In this issue we talk 

about sailing in wind and chop, conditions that are 

likely to prevail at the Nationals in San Franciso this 

summer. This is a revised and updated article previously 

published by Peter Commette. 

Getting a feel for the chop. 

In choppy conditions, a 

correct technique for playing 

the waves is critical. You and 

your crew must look beyond 

the bow at all times to see the 

waves before you hit them. 

Chop is not swell; I am not a 

big proponent of steering up 

on the face of the wave and 

down on the back, or steering 

off on the face of the wave 

and up on the back. I save that 

for bigger seas in the ocean. 

In chop, I find that it is much better to look at waves as 

being presented to you in “blocks.” There are blocks of good 

waves that will not disturb your bow, there are blocks of bad 

waves that will disturb your bow, and there are flat spots. Each 

of these three conditions requires the bow of your boat to be 

positioned differently relative to the wind. 

In the bad waves, you have to bear off and ease the main 

and jib a little to get through them. I also heel my boat up a 

little bit, which I admit is of questionable value. Finally, the 

skipper and crew have to roll onto their aft thighs and lean 

back. 

In the good waves, I sail straight ahead on my normal 

course. In these waves I also keep the boat as flat as possible. 

Crew, remind yourselves to not over-trim the jib. The boat 

needs maximum power, and the sails a free leach, to maintain 

momentum in waves. The blocks of good waves are also 

key transitional areas. Not only can you bear off to build 

up momentum for the bad waves that are coming next, but 

also it’s a good time to pinch up and get into a flat spot to 

windward. Flat spots are where you can really make tracks. 

What I mean by saying that you can make tracks in the 

flat spots is that I view the flat spots as gifts. They are my 

free shots to windward. When I get into a flat spot I trim 

down extra hard on my main and pinch like crazy, sometimes 

carrying a little bit of a luff in the jib. Trim the jib a little 

tighter, too. The key to a flat spot is not to be a pig. The boat 

cannot take this sort of pinching for too long, and, assuming 

that waves will be on the other side of the flat spot, you have 

to pull off in time to get speed before you get back into the 

waves. 

Starting a race in a breeze. 

When racing in a breeze, it is critical to keep your lee bow 

clear so that you can drive off when you need speed. At the 

start you really need speed, so it is really critical to keep your 

lee bow clear. Set up late – no earlier than one minute before 

the start. And both skipper and crew must be alert and on their 

toes. Find the best hole next to someone who usually sails 

slower than you, this will give you a little wiggle room. If the 

better hole is to leeward of the slower person, then take the 

hole and keep yourself as close as possible to the slower boat. 

Then, concentrate on trimming in before the boat to leeward 

of you. The key to trimming first is to watch body and eye 

movements and make none of your own until the last second. 

Once you hear ratchets, it may be too late. If the best hole is 

to windward of the slower boat, take the hole but stay close to 

the windward boat concentrate totally on stuffing the person 

to windward of you and trimming in before he does. The key 

to controlling the person to windward of you is to stop your 

boat dead, as near to him as possible, with your bow at least 

two feet in front of his. Don’t be afraid to push your boom 

out to stop your boat, and be careful of your mast coming to 

windward and hitting the boat to windward of you as he takes 

your air. 

The crew meanwhile has eyes out for port tackers and 

boats going behind you that may snatch YOUR hole. When 

someone makes a move for your hole, bear off while easing 

the main, and close the gap before he gains overlap. By 

placing yourself across the hole you both discourage the other 

skipper from trying to take it and also leave yourself a wider 

escape to the boat to weather of you if the hole snatcher is 

successful. After you have discouraged him, you can head 

back up to the boat to weather, retrim your main, suck yourself 

into his lee side and ease. Always have your vang loose until 

just before the start, because a tight leach makes it more 

difficult to plant your boat. 

Upwind leg. 

Once you start and you have your lee bow clear, start with 

the heavy air technique. First, it is important to point off the 

starting line. For that you need a straight jib stay. Any sag 

in the headstay whatsoever will hinder your pointing ability. 

Off the starting line and clear of other boats, you will be able 

to point better if the cunninghams are slightly looser than 

you would normally carry them in the breeze. Remember, 

you are going to have to hike EXTRA hard with the loose 

cunninghams. 

Once you are safe from the boats around you and have 

tightened the cunninghams, you can ease up on the hiking. 

Now is when all that practice in heavy air will pay. Maintain 

momentum, keep the boat flat, react in the bad waves, react in 

the puffs, look for the flat spots, transition in the good waves, 

and make tracks to windward in the flat spots. And don’t 

forget tactics. 

1 www.snipeus.org

Trailer Maintenance Tips 

Part II 

By John Buckley 

In the last issue of US Snipe Sailor, we ran an article on trailer 

maintenance. We received some comments and feedback on 

that article, and wanted to share them. 

One reader asked why trailer-type tires are recommended 

over passenger car tires. The difference is sidewall flexibility, 

which affects traction. Passenger vehicle tires are designed 

with flexible sidewalls in order to maximize the area of tread 

that contacts the road under various circumstances, in order to 

provide optimum traction. Trailers, on the other hand, simply 

follow along behind the tow vehicle, so traction is not an 

issue. In fact flexible sidewalls on trailer tires are more of a 

liability than an asset, since this can contribute to trailer sway 

– especially with heavy loads and a high center of gravity. 

Trailer tires have more rigid sidewalls to counteract this. 

On lightweight trailers carrying a single dinghy, this is not 

much of an issue. However, if you’re loading two, four, or 

even six Snipes on a single trailer - which some people do – it 

adds up to a lot of axle weight and a high center of gravity. So 

stability is desirable. 

There’s a good article on this topic at http://www. 

taskmasterproducts.com/acatalog/whybuytrailertires.pdf 

Tom Townsend, of the Indianapolis Fleet, says he carries a 

spare wheel hub and bearings with him, packed with grease 

and ready to go. This is a great idea for anyone who travels 

extensively. He also points out that Bearing Buddies are not a 

panacea, and in fact they can give a false sense of confidence. 

He is correct – you can’t just slap them on your wheels 

and then forget about them. They are designed to maintain 

pressure in the hub, but in order for them to accomplish 

that, you must also have sound grease seals on the inside of 

your wheel hub. Properly installed and maintained, Bearing 

Buddies will maintain pressure indefinitely – but it’s all about 

the grease seals. 

Shortly after publishing the first article, I began renovating a 

trailer for someone else. It had been in storage for a long time, 

and we assumed it would need new bearings, grease seals, 

and tires. However, when it was pulled out of storage and the 

wheels and hubs were removed, it became apparent that the 

axle spindles were also damaged (see photos at right). 

It’s likely that what happened here was the bearings got wet 

and began rusting. Then, at some point, it must have sat long 

enough that the entire inner bearing cone rusted together. 

With the bearings “frozen in their tracks”, so to speak, the 

next attempt to move the trailer resulted in the entire inner 

bearing assembly rotating on the axle shaft itself – which it’s 

not supposed to do. Together with the fact that the grease was 

either gone or destroyed by moisture, the bearing assembly 

actually wore into the spindle (photo #1, below). The seal was 

damaged, and had also worn into the axle shaft. 

If you attempted to fix this by simply replacing the bearings 

and seals, the bearings would not seat properly on the spindle, 

and the wheel would not rotate around the center of the axle. 

The seal would be promptly destroyed, and you’d be right 

back where you started. This axle had to be replaced. 

Photo #1. This is the worn spindle mentioned above. (A) is the 

groove worn into the underside of the spindle by the bearing 

assembly; (B) is where the metal component of the grease seal 

also wore into the spindle. 

Photo #2. This shows an old, but unworn, axle spindle from a 

comparable boat trailer. 

US SNIPE SAILOR Summer 2008 1 

A 

B

My Favorite Fried 

Photo 

USSS caught up with District 5 Governor 

Adrienne Korkosz and asked her to talk about 

one of her favorite Fried Elliott photos. Here’s 

what she had to say: 

Trying to choose only one of Fried’s pictures 

to write about was quite a daunting task. Anyone 

who has visited Fried’s website knows how 

many fantastic photos Fried has taken. Not only 

are there energetic action photos, but there are 

great candid and group pictures as well. Each of 

Fried’s photos is a work of art; not only in clarity, 

color, and content, but in framing and movement. 

This made choosing only one to write about very 

difficult. 

This picture of Will Thomas and his 10 year old 

daughter Sarah, at the 2007 Nationals, stood out as one of my 

favorites. Fried has managed to capture a wonderful moment. 

Despite the lack of wind, both father and daughter appear to be 

enjoying their time together; time that is precious and hopefully 

always cherished. This photo shows the future of the Class 

by showing a junior truly enjoying Snipe sailing. Lastly, this 

picture from the US nationals catching Sarah’s fantastic smile 

epitomizes our Snipe slogan Serious sailing, Serious fun. 

I know Sarah’s mother and Will’s wife, Heather, agrees 

with me that this is a Fried photo favorite. Thanks to Fried for 

catching this brief moment so beautifully. 

1 www.snipeus.org

MAKE FLEET RACING 

MORE FUN 

By Tom Ehman, Jr. 

This article was excerpted from a 1987 Sailing World 

article, but is still relevant today. 

Most important for those interested in improving 

one-design sailing is to remember that most 

people race to socialize as well as compete. 

They want to have fun – party, party, party. 

Where sailing is social and fun, fleets are alive 

and healthy. (Or is the converse true? I think not.) Here is a 

string of ideas to make racing more social and fun: 

• Have a potluck dinner after the race. Move it around from 

one fleet member’s house to another. BYO drinks and protein. 

Hosts (or co-hosts) provide salad and dessert. This concept 

was singularly responsible for rejuvenating the J/24 fleet in 

Newport, RI a few years back. The party is fun for those who 

win (they can savor their victory in public), and a salve for 

those who don’t. 

• Every now and then have a fleet “theme party”: Hawaiian 

luau, M*A*S*H party, toga party… all the standard stuff. 

Invite non-sailors (prospects) and those from other “fringe” 

fleets. 

• Do a regular fleet newsletter announcing results of recent 

races and regattas – and announcing who won the parties. 

Keep it simple and light, and don’t be afraid to poke some 

gentle fun... People love the recognition. 

• Have lots of short races. The more races you have, the more 

likely it is that the regulars will beat the rock stars. Starting 

on a reach off the yacht club dock, and finishing back there 

25 minutes later IS FUN. Then do it again. Someone else is 

bound to win. No, don’t run the districts or nationals that way; 

but for club racing, it’s great. 

• Give out crew awards equal to those given to skippers. The 

prize giving should not be “In first place, Ken Read and crew.” 

Every member of the crew should be recognized by name and 

awarded a trophy the same as the skipper. Recognize crews as 

well as skippers and everyone will have more fun; and it will 

make it easier for skippers to get crews. 

• Use US SAILING’s Rules-In-Brief card instead of the rulebook. 

It’s simple, easy to understand, and makes it easier for a 

novice to have fun. Have oral protests. No forms, no formalities. 

Require that a protest flag is flown, and the other party 

is notified of the incident and the rule. Then have the hearing 

immediately, and get it over with like we do at most college 

regattas. Then people can get back to socializing. 

• Don’t let people cheat (on kinetics, class rules, etc.). If they 

do, protest them. If they persist, invite them to leave the fleet. 

• Invite novices (skippers and crews) to sail with the experts 

in the fleet. It is still the best way to help newcomers learn to 

become good sailors quickly. 

• Keep it light on the water. Hail “good job” when someone 

gets you on the race course; make a big deal about a novice 

doing well on a leg, or in a race, by giving them a big cheer on 

the water. Encourage the race committee to be helpful. 

• DON’T race when the weather is cold, rainy, or extremely 

rough and windy. Have a seminar and party on shore instead. 

• DO race when there isn’t much wind. This is when the novices 

are most likely to do well, and have fun. So what if it’s a 

crapshoot? As long as it’s an even shorter than usual course, 

and as long as it isn’t broiling hot, it’s fun. 

• Keep a good fleet captain on. Don’t change fleet captains every 

year or two just because “you should pass it around.” Most 

good fleet captains are good because they like to do it. Most 

bad ones are bad because they don‘t want to do it. If you have 

a good one who’s willing to stay – keep ’em! Only change 

when someone wants out, or isn’t very good. 

• Find something to do for spouses and kids who don’t like 

to race. Lots of spouses love to do race committee work, but 

don’t like to sail. Then you’ll be including the whole family. 

• Get some publicity. Make the necessary arrangements with 

the local paper for the results to be published, if only as a box 

score, after each race. Recognition turns everybody on and 

brings in new fleet members. 

• Do a charity regatta or cruise. It’s amazing how this brings 

the fleet together! Everyone rallies around a cause. Collect the 

entry fees and give them to the local heart fund, cancer drive, 

or whatever. Gets good ink for the fleet and club, too. Or have 

a public sailing day where members of the fleet take anyone 

who comes down to the docks out sailing, in return for a small 

donation to a local charity. That’ll get great ink as a dual 

public service, and it is a good way to interest newcomers. But 

most important, it is social – and fun. That’s what makes onedesign 

sailing fun, and it’s what will make any fleet grow. 


Snipe Newbie 

New to the Snipe Class last year, 

Alison Bisbano is a member of 

the Lake Quassapaug (CT) Snipe 

Fleet. 

Thank you for such a warm 

welcome into your Class. 

I truly enjoy all the experiences 

sailing with you. Being 

from the northeast, I’m 

coming up on my third summer of the 

most sailing I’ve done in 

my life. 

The Snipe was 

introduced to me by a 

friend, to whom I’m 

grateful, who values 

technical one design 

sailboats, and who has a 

tradition of Snipe sailing 

passed down from family 

members. I chose to 

continue and to join the 

Snipe Class because not 

only is the Snipe an agile 

internationally raced 

two-person boat, but also 

because the sailors are 

exceptional performers. 

Competing with your talent inevitably 

improves any challenger’s sailing 

skills because it pushes them to step 

up to the next level. 

Snipe sailing enables me to progress 

as a person by bringing with me 

the confidence I have gained on the 

water to land. It provides me with an 

opportunity to improve my sailing 

skills and to translate those skills 

to life. Those life skills include the 

ability to work as a team, to work 

quickly, to focus, and to think like an 

athlete. 

In addition to reasons of self-improvement 

I also joined the Snipe 

Class to build camaraderie with people 

from around the world. Attending 

regattas gives any person an excellent 

chance to converse with people from 

different cultures. What interests me 

about the Snipe is that the Class is 

international, the sailors are talented, 

and the Snipe has great history. 

My initiation into the sailing 

world began in Long Island Sound 

when my grandfather took us out for 

the Fourth of July holiday celebration. 

That memory sparked my interest 

in sailing and led to the pursuit of 

buoy racing in my years after university. 

The adult classes at Longshore 

Sailing School of Westport, CT gave 

an excellent foundation to the theory 

of sailboat racing. US Sailing opened 

my eyes to big boat sailing, and 

the people of Cedar Point YC have 

afforded me experiences of racing 

Thistles there and racing Snipes at the 

nearby Lake Quassapaug. 

The 2007 Snipe Nationals in Dillon, 

CO was my third Snipe regatta. 

The first was Surf City, NJ and the 

second was Lake Quassapaug in 

Middlebury, CT. Dillon nationals 

were extremely well run. People from 

all over the country attended. We 

learned about the great photographer, 

Fried Elliott. The nationals were set 

in a gorgeous scene of mountains 

that were about 9,000 feet above sea 

level. The first six inches of the lake 

was warm enough so that you could 

stay in for no longer than ten minutes. 

When clouds roll in, the position of 

the mountains create microbursts of 

wind over the lake, which may cause 

the fleet to capsize. With all these 

adversities my boat completed the 

first two days and had an excellent 

time. During the second day of racing 

the fleet was called off the water due 

to an incoming storm. It was a thrill 

to race into the dock to make use of 

the large hoist as fast as possible in 

the event of lightning. I give compliments 

to the race committee for good 

calls and sound decision making. 

What brought me to Nassau for 

the 2008 Mid-Winter Championships 

were the warm weather sailing 

and my teammate. Upon receiving a 

mailing from the Snipe 

Class, the list of 2008 

regattas were posted 

and my university-mate 

chose the regatta in his 

home country. Thank 

you to the organizers for 

making us able to participate 

in a fabulously fun 

regatta. The last leg of 

the winter circuit in Nassau 

connected me with 

well-experienced sailors. 

We had two races each 

day. A southerly weather 

system came through 

during the last race on 

Saturday, which brought 

heavy air for the last upwind leg and 

sail back to shore. All that the Class 

boasts about Serious Fun is by far 

true. All the participants had loads of 

fun together. The hosts were charming 

and the parties were magnificent. 

I enjoy the test of a regatta because 

it teaches you how to think and 

act quickly, and I look forward to 

many more with the Snipe Class. 

The US Snipe Sailor occasionally 

presents a profile of a member who’s 

new to the Class and wants to share 

how and why they chose to buy a 

Snipe. If this is you, or if you know 

of a new member you’d like to recognize, 

send contact information to 

Susan Odell at seodell@yahoo.com. 

18 www.snipeus.org

One of the best ways to grow your local fleet is to 

put together an event that introduces prospective new 

members to all of the Serious Sailing and Serious Fun 

elements of Snipe sailing. What kind of event, you say? 

Well, how about something like this: 

• 

• 

• 

Fleet Development Activities Coming Soon! 

by David Odell 

A KidFest where you invite current and prospective 

members out for casual racing with kids as skipper and/ 

or crew. Bring games for those on shore, and organize a 

cookout afterward. 

An alumni reunion for the graduates of your yacht 

club’s junior sailing program. They’re probably off 

to college or beyond, and would love to get together 

to race with all of their old friends. Host the one day 

regatta in Snipes, then have a party afterwards. This will 

expose many people to Snipes who are likely candidates 

to join the Class. 

Host a tuning clinic, where you encourage all of those 

inactive fleet members who you haven’t seen in quite a 

while to come out and get ramped up by the local hot 

shot or sail maker. 

Start Planning Now!! 

Sailors’ Reunion 

Atlanta’s Halloween Regatta 

October 25–26 

Nice ideas, but how do we pay for all of this? Great 

news – the US Snipe Class is able to fund 21 of these fleet 

development activities (3 in each of the 7 districts) thanks 

to the generosity of Gene Soltero and Soltero Resources, 

Inc. of Dallas Fleet #1. 

Gene understands the importance of growing the 

Class and bringing new people into the Snipe Family, so 

he recently donated $15,000 to the Class! This incredible 

donation will enable the Class to hold 21 fleet development 

activities each year for the next three years. Each fleet 

development activity will be allocated $250, and each 

district gets to have three in 2008. Your District Governor 

will decide where these funds are spent, so as you start 

planning your schedule for next year, give some thought to 

creative programs you can put in place to grow your fleet 

and then call your District Governor for funding. 

After your event, tell us what you did and how it worked 

out. And don’t forget to drop Gene a note and thank him 

for his generosity! 

Atlanta’s Halloween Regatta is unlike any other event – a gathering of friends, the culmination 

of the sailing season, a family oriented gathering to make memories that last a lifetime. 

Remember your first Halloween? Remember perfect weather, warm and windy, or a drifter, or a 

howling gale? We’ve had everything – except anyone NOT glad they came. 

While we don’t expect to get the 112 Snipes from 13 states and two foreign countries that we 

drew in the past, this year’s regatta should be special. We are planning several events off the 

water to encourage past snipers to come back and swap tales, to relive their exploits, and to 

reinvigorate and inspire present day sailors. 


Rules Quiz 

Last month we presented a pair of rules 

quizzes having to do with windward mark 

rounding situations. Here is a third one, 

involving a boat that tacks inside another, 

with room to lay the mark... 

Within one hull length of a windward 

mark to be left to port, boat P (on port 

tack) tacks to a close-hauled course 

to leeward of boat S (on starboard 

tack). As P’s bow approaches the mark, S remains 

close-hauled and hails to P, “You have no rights!” 

As S bears away to round the mark, she forces P 

to bear away into the mark to avoid hitting her. P 

immediately gets clear of the other boats, hailing 

“Protest!” and flying a red flag as she does, and 

does one turn that includes a tack and a gybe. S 

sails on. After the race, P files a protest against 

S for failing to keep clear of her. You are on the 

protest committee; how would you decide this? 

Answer: 

Boat S is penalized under rule 11, On the Same 

Tack, Overlapped. As P approaches S on the 

opposite tack, P is required to keep clear under rule 

10, On Opposite Tacks. Once P is on a close-hauled 

course, she becomes the right-of-way boat (as the 

P2 

S1 

leeward boat), and is required by rule 15, Acquiring 

Right of Way, to initially give S room to keep clear 

of her. 

When P completes her tack within two lengths 

of the mark, rule 18.3(a) requires that she not 

cause S to sail above close-hauled to avoid her or 

P1 

prevent S from passing the mark. She did neither; therefore she did not break rule 18.3(a). Once P is on a close-hauled 

course and overlapped to leeward of S, S (as the windward boat) becomes requred to keep clear of her under rule 11. By 

bearing away toward P and causing P to take action to avoid her, S breaks rule 11. 

P chooses to take a penalty for touching the mark. This, however, does not remove her right to also protest S. Based 

on the facts, S breaks rule 11 and is penalized. The fact that P did a circle cannot be undone. However, had P not done a 

circle, she would be exonerated by the protest committee for breaking rule 31.1, Touching A Mark, under rule 64.1(b), 

Penalties And Exoneration. 

Answers are based on The Racing Rules of Sailing 2005–2008. Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes is published by the United States Sailing Association 

(US SAILING) — 1 (800) 877-2451 or www.ussailing.org 

20 www.snipeus.org 

P3 

S3 

Wind 

S2

Snipe Display In Quest Field At 

2008 Seattle Boat Show 

Seattle Snipe Fleet 444 participated in the Seattle Boat 

Show that occurred this past winter. Corinthian Yacht Club 

organized the event that involved setting up a display of 

the most active one design fleets racing out of CYC. The 

display was unique this year in that the organizers allowed 

the boats to be set up on the field of Quest Stadium, home 

Tattoo You! 

Get a supply of Snipe Tattoos like this for your regatta 

or other Fleet function. 

Contact Mary Buckley, direx@inebraska.com 

Fried Elliott 

of the Seattle Seahawks A plastic covered shelter was set 

up that contained Snipe promotional brochures, and was 

manned by two club volunteers every day of the 10 day 

show to answer questions and recruit potential members. 

The Snipe pictured is owned by Tom Colligan. 


Jun 20-22 

Jun 20-22 

Jun 21-22 

Jun 21-22 

Jun 28-29 

July 5-6 

Jul 12-13 

Jul 12-13 

Jul 19-20 

Jul 19-20 

Jul 19-20 

Aug 2-3 

Aug 4-8 

Aug 16-17 

Aug 23-24 

Sep 4-6 

Sep 6-7 

Sep 12-14 

Oct 4-5 

Oct 25-26 

2008 Snipe USA Regatta Schedule 

Firewater Regatta - Lincoln Sailing Club, Branched Oak Lake, Lincoln, NE 

Chuck Lewis: chucklewis@earthlink.net 

District 6 Junior Championship/Jr. Worlds Qualifier - San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, CA 

Daniell Richards: danielle.richards@ussailing.net 

Whitemore St John Regatta/D1 Championship - Lake Quassapaug, CT 

Joel Zackin: joel.zackin@cyclone.com 

Low Country Regatta - Beaufort Yacht Club, Beaufort, SC 

Frank Pontious: fpont@islc.net 

District 4 Championship - Pensacola Yacht Club, Pensacola, FL 

Tom Henderson: tomwhenderson@bellsouth.net 

Ontario Open/Canadian Championships - Guelph Lake, Ontario, Canada 

Adrian Dangerfield: adedangerfield@rogers.com 

Winchester Invitational - Mystic Lake, Winchester, MA 

Andrew Davis: aed@cornell.edu 

Norm Tanner Memorial Regatta - Bow Mar, CO 

Steve Tautz: stautz@comcast.net 

Ted Wells Memorial Regatta - Walnut Valley Sailing Club, El Dorado (Wichita), KS 

Ken Rix: sail4it@att.net 

New England Championships - Jubilee Yacht Club, Beverly, MA 

Shan McAdoo: smcadoo@riverlogic.com 

District 3 Championship - South Shore Yacht Club, Milwaukee, WI 

Mike Blackwood: firewood@wi.rr.com 

2008 Snipe USA Junior National Championship - Richmond Yacht Club, Richmond, CA 

Vincent Casalaina: vincesail@aol.com 

2008 Snipe USA National Championship - Richmond Yacht Club, Richmond, CA 

Vincent Casalaina: vincesail@aol.com 

Briody Memorial Regatta - Newport Yacht Club, Rochester, NY 

Norm Dahl: normdahl@rochester.rr.com 

Board of Governors Regatta - Lake Quassapaug, CT 

Joel Zackin: joel.zackin@cyclone.com 

Snipe USA Masters National Championship - Gull Lake Yacht Club, Gull Lake, MI 

Stan McKay: mckaysk@comcast.net 

Surf City/Call of Fall - Surf City Yacht Club, Surf City, NJ 

Lee Griffith: leeg@contextgroup.com 

Snipe North American Championship - Cottage Park Yacht Club, Winthrop, MA 

Bob Coyle: snipe24695@aol.com 

Frigid Digit - Severn Sailing Association, Annapolis, MD 

Brian Hetherington: brian.hetherington@clarkconstruction.com 

Halloween Regatta - Atlanta Yacht Club, Atlanta, GA 

Peggy Davis: peggydavis@mindspring.com 

Go to www.snipeus.org for updates to the Regatta Schedule 

22 www.snipeus.org

Fried Elliott photo 

Snipe Class International Racing Association USA 

PO Box 83866 

Lincoln, NE 68501 

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED 

WEST (619) 226-1415 

Chris Snow chris@od.northsails.com 

Dave Hughes dave@od.northsails.com 

5,4,3 

... are the North AP mainsail options for 2008. Choose the AP-5 when the breeze is light, 

AP-4 for medium conditions, and AP-3+ when the wind is pumping! 

Call us today to learn how to optimize your 2008 Snipe program with North! 

CHESAPEAKE (410) 280-3617 

Brian Bissell brianb@od.northsails.com 

Greg Fisher greg@od.northsails.com 

Non-Profi t 

U.S. Postage 

PAID 

Lincoln, NE 

Permit 1147 

Faster by Design 

www.OneDesign.com

Summer 2008 - United States Snipe Sailing

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