First annual DickC Cup Snipe Regatta

Fifteen teams came out for the inaugural DickC Cup A/B college-style regatta on August 19-20, 2023 in Annapolis, Maryland. Over the weekend, 18 races were completed in a range of wind conditions that tested new and experienced teams alike. Ultimately, consistency ruled the weekend as is very typical with college-style regattas with many shorter races that do not include a discard.

After 18 races only 6 points separated the top three spots on the overall scoresheet with the Team “Fill My B” comprised of Arthur Blodgett/Darby Capellin (A) and Chase Cooper (Sat)/Mike Beasley (Sun)/Chantal Ferraro (B) just edging out Team “Aqua Wolves” Bradley Adam/Thomas Walker (A) and Charlie Anderson/Nikki Bruno (B) followed by Team “Flutterbys” Brady Stagg/Gracie McDougall (A) and Owen Hennessey/Raam Fox (B).

The regatta is to honor Richard C “DickC” Bartlett, an original member of both Severn Sailing Association (SSA) and the local Snipe Fleet 532 who celebrated his 100th birthday last year just before his passing. According to his son Jonathan (who sailed with his daughter Annie), DickC was always about getting new sailors into the Snipe and helped build the fleet to become the go to powerhouse fleet at SSA and nationally in the Snipe Class.

As such it was thought to be appropriate to create an A/B college style event that honored his many years of supporting the Snipe Fleet by bringing the Snipe to both those who are new to the boat as well as to reunite some Snipe “Alumni” with the fleet by pairing them with a current Snipe sailor.

And of course Fleet 532 could not resist the punny regatta name as well as the retro Dixie Cup themed trophies and accouterments. The Capital did a nice article on DickC’s awesome 100 years last spring that is worth a read.

The first day of sailing brought pleasant and uncharacteristically cool morning temperatures for mid-August, but along with it came light and very shifty northwesterly breezes. The courses were set in the Severn River to facilitate rating between A and B teams making the conditions that much more tricky for both the competitors and the race committee.

Despite this, 2 full rotations (each consisting of 2 for A and 2 for B) were completed before the breeze and the powerboat chop on this “Chamber of Commerce Day” were such that any more racing became untenable.

Day two was a more typical Annapolis mid-summer day with warm temperatures and light morning breeze. After a postponement ashore, the breeze picked up and eventually came around to the southerly “sea breeze” direction at 10-12 knots, what we call in Annapolis “Champagne” sailing conditions.

While there was considerable pleasure boat traffic in the River, the breeze was strong enough to keep the sailing conditions excellent for the 10 races that were completed (5 A and 5 B) right up until the drop dead time of 3pm.

One of the great things about the A/B rotation is the off water teams’ ability to socialize on shore allowing new and old Snipe sailors to meet. After racing, the sailors hung around for beverages, snacks and cake while sharing memories and war stories.

In addition to the top placing thee teams we also awarded prices to the top “Alumni” and “New to the Snipe” Teams.

Furthermore, the A division results counted as the SSA Summer Series and a separate set of trophy glasses were awarded to the top three: Arthur Blodgett/Darby Capellin, Bradley Adam/Thomas Walker, and Gavin & Holly O’Hare, SSA’s newest members and SSA’s new Social Chair.

Event details – Results – Facebook

Source: Annapolis Snipe Fleet 532