by Sara (Sally) Green and Dick Boblenz
Once again, a flock of Snipes has flown through CYC leaving history in its wake. On March 9 - 11, CYC hosted her 71st Snipe Midwinter Regatta. This is not only CYC’s longest running regatta, it is also the longest running Snipe regatta in the United States. This year, 25 competitors and their one person crews came from eleven countries. Some of these Snipes have been making the long migratory flight to CYC for many years. While CYC no longer has an active Snipe fleet (would anyone like to start one?), the club’s history is inextricably intertwined with this kind of one design sailboat - making this particular regatta, while small in size, huge in historical significance to our club. In 2011, while we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of our club, we will also be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the first Snipe Midwinter Regatta.
It all started in the 1930's when times were tough and Snipe sailing (as a relatively inexpensive way to have fun on the water) was all the rage. CYC decided to get into the action in a big way. In 1935, Commodore Taver Bayly’s young daughter Miss Ann (now CYC member Ann Cornett) christened the club’s first snipe “The Good Ship Jack Snipe.” In 1936, we held our first Snipe Midwinters and within a few years, the CYC Snipe Fleet was world famous - for both its size and the quality of its sailors. If you look around our clubhouse, you’ll see that many of our decorative trophies are for Snipe Regattas and that CYC sailors dominate the name plates. Even our beautiful silver punch bowl is actually a Snipe Trophy - won and donated to the club by CYC’s Francis Seavy. There’s a saying on the History Committee that “the history of CYC is the history of the Snipes” and that’s not far off the mark. CYC’s success in Snipe sailing put us on the map in the yachting world and our Laser and Finn sailors are keeping us there.
As is the case for all of our one design regattas, most of the Snipe sailors launched and stored their boats at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center (CCSC) this year. Some of these birds, however, still prefer to fly from CYC. If you were around the club, you probably made a few Snipe sightings yourself. In the old days, the club was literally taken over by Snipes during the regatta. Many of the sailors slept on the premises and sometimes things got a bit rowdy - perhaps due to our famous Snipe Regatta Drunken Grapefruit Party which the Bow Chasers generously host to this day. While few sailors actually slept at the club this year, many were hosted by CYC members in their homes or boats. Thanks to all of you who extended this hospitality to our guests. Most of the sailors also enjoyed dining and drinking at CYC during their stay and almost all attended the annual Snipe Banquet in the Taver Bayly dining room. As always, Tom, Bill and the CYC staff did a superb job of making this historic banquet both elegant and enjoyable.
Between drinking and eating, the Snipe sailors did some awesome sailing in the gulf. The CYC Race Management Team, led by our newest certified PRO John Ardolino, was challenged on day one with light and shifty winds and only one race was scored. Day two was ideal, after a short delay for the wind to fill-in from the Northwest, and three races were scored. Day three was light but two races were completed for a total of six races which allowed one race to be discarded. Awards were then presented at CCSC by Vice Commodore Tim Roberts (assisted by Rear Commodore Brenda Hanson who was the scorer for the regatta). Ernesto Rodriquez and crew Megan Place from Miami were the winners with two first place finishes. Herman Peralta and crew Enrique Quintero were second, also with two first place finishes and also from Miami. The Major Phillip Blair Masters award went to Peter Commette and crew Connie Commette from Ft. Lauderdale. Margie Kozich was elected by her fellow sailors as the recipient of the Frank Levinson Jr. Sportsmanship Award. CYC may no longer have a Snipe fleet, but we did have one “home grown” Snipe sailor in the regatta this year. Hal Gilreath (son of the late Cookie Gilreath - past member of CYC) and his crew Clayton Dixon received the fifth place trophy.
Megan Place, received the gift of a necklace made by local artist Kiaralinda Ramquist. Naomi Seavy commissions this special piece of jewelry through the Painted Fish Gallery in Dunedin each year. She presents the necklace as a gift to the woman (captain or crew) on the highest scoring boat in the regatta. As the wife and sometimes crew of Francis Seavy (a very competitive Snipe sailor) Naomi knows just exactly what it means to be a woman involved with Snipes. She gives this gift in appreciation for the women who help keep the Snipes flying to CYC each year. We hope these rare birds will keep flocking our way for many years to come.
