2025 Colonial Cup – Big Fleet, Big Breeze, Big Fun

The first weekend of June saw another record-breaking Colonial Cup with 48 registrants. The Colonial Cup has become the premier northeast Spring regatta in the last few years as Annapolis has a strong local fleet that is able to provide housing to competitors, a great venue at the Severn Sailing Association and interesting and challenging sailing conditions. Additionally this year’s regatta was a qualifier for the 2026 Snipe World Championships. This all comes together for some Serious Sailing, Serious Fun®.

The weather didn’t cooperate for any racing for the fleet on Saturday. By the time the fleet was getting ready to launch and head out to the race course, the Race Committee reported sustained winds over 25 knots with some gusts reaching 30. The fleet was postponed for an hour to see if the breeze would abate. It did not…and then the thunderstorms came. Many sailors are continuing south after the weekend to Atlanta Yacht Club for Snipe Nationals on Lake Allatoona, so many conversations focused on logistical planning and sneak peeks at the weather forecast for the week. 

While Saturday was blown out with thunderstorms, competitors enjoyed a moderately breezy Sunday, getting in 4 races run by SSA PRO Steve Podlich. Sunday brought quintessential fall-like post cold front conditions with puffy and shifty northwest breeze in the 10-20 knot range. Racing quickly got underway with U flags eventually keeping the line in check. The racing was exciting and staying in phase with the 30- degree shifts was paramount. The downwind legs were fun in the puffy conditions, but were manageable with a flat sea state. While locals Trevor Davis and Diego Escobar thrived in the challenging conditions, notching first-place finishes in races 1, 2, and 4, they scored a 16 in race three. Meanwhile, Ernesto Rodriguez and Taylor Scheuermann kept it solid with a 2, 2, 1, 4 scoreline. 

Rodriguez and Scheuermann of Miami took the top spot in the end, while Davis and Escobar won the most number of races, finishing in 2nd, followed by Enrique Quintero/Lorena Fundora in 3rd. These top three clinched qualification for the 2026 Snipe World Championships in Menorca, Spain Sept 21-26, 2026. Rounding out the top five were Augie Diaz/Madeline Baldridge in 4th and Peter Foley/Rees Tindall in 5th. The top Junior team was Owen Fretwell/Colin Krebs from San Diego in 14th and the top Women team was Carol Cronin/Kim Couranz in 11th to complete the trophy winners. Not only was this a recent record for total teams, but also for all junior teams and all women teams. The fleet also included four married couple teams and two parent-child teams. How cool is that?

A new and interesting feature of this regatta was the introduction of a program to elevate junior sailors into adult sailing using the Snipe as a platform for excellence in sailing. Juniors in three boats from the Annapolis Yacht Club and one from Severn Sailing Association competed using high quality Snipes with new sails and a dedicated coach, Bruno Mello, provided by the program along with the plethora of advice from class experts. It’s technical, tactical, athletic, and fun to sail and is a great complement to the standard junior classes. This year’s effort will culminate in the Snipe Junior Nationals here at SSA in August.

A special sportsmanship award of new blade bags donated by North Sails was voted on by the fleet, and given to Lexi Pline and Lydia McPherson, who assisted a bachelorette party on a rental electric Duffy that was struggling to make headway in the high wind during one of the thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon. The competitors were also met above the finish line by the Geaux Fast Sailing Beer Boat for a post race carbohydrate recovery beverage while they continued upwind to SSA on Sunday.

Packing up ensued like a beehive of activity as much of the fleet was continuing on the Snipe US National Championships in Atlanta beginning in a few days. The next big Snipe regatta at Severn Sailing Association is the Snipe Junior National Championship (for sailors 22 and under) combined with Annapolis Snipe Invite U30 Regatta (for sailors under 30), August 16-17. 

Local photographer Ted Morgan captured all the action and provided free high resolution downloads, thanks to support from Annapolis Snipe Fleet 532: https://tedmorganphotography.zenfolio.com/p819820618
Full Results: https://theclubspot.com/regatta/Sl4QqYADMj/results

Place	Sailors	Sail Number	Club/Org	Total	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Ernesto Rodriguez Taylor Scheuermann	USA 31337	Miami Fleet	9	2	2	1	4
2	Trevor Davis Diego Escobar	USA 31391	Severn Sailing Association / Mission Bay Yacht Club	19	1	1	16	1
3	Enrique Quintero Lorena Fundora	USA 31640	Coral Reef Yacht Club	20	8	6	3	3
4	Augie Diaz Madeline Baldridge	USA 30288	Coconut Grove Sailing Club	21	10	5	4	2
5	Peter Foley Henry Tindall	USA 31384	CRYC/EYC	27	5	10	2	10
6	Bradley Adam Thomas Walker	USA 29044	Severn Sailing Association	40	11	3	6	20
7	Doug Hart Shane Tillson	USA 31297	Mission Bay YC	41	16	7	5	13
8	Evan Hoffmann Alex Damley-Strnad	USA 31770	San Diego Yacht Club	41	7	17	11	6
9	Jim Bowers Julia Marsh Rabin	USA 31555	Winchester Boat Club	55	32	9	9	5
10	Alfonso García Bringas Jed Lory	MEX 31129	Porto Bravo	56	22	14	12	8
11	Carol Cronin Kim Couranz	USA 31295	SSA	65	13	27	13	12
12	Robert Vann Lydia McPherson	USA 30473	SSA	67	30	16	14	7
13	Carter Cameron Colin Voigt	USA 30337	San Diego Yacht Club/Carolina Yacht Club SC/Newport Harbor Yacht Club	68	15	23	15	15
14	Owen Fretwell Colin Krebs	USA 28857	Mission Bay Yacht Club	69	9	11	24	25
15	Darby Capellin Jeff Hayden	USA 29681	SSA	70	4	8	RET – 49	9
16	Robert Ramirez	USA 31638	NYYC / SSA	75	12	24	22	17
17	Sarah Alexander Mariah Leffingwell	USA 31635	Severn Sailing Association	77	20	13	33	11
18	Luke Ingalls Jackie Morrison	USA 29963	Sakonnet Yacht Club	80	3	18	10	UFD – 49
19	Andrew Pimental Laura Varela	USA 32033	Sail Newport	83	29	12	26	16
20	Trevor Long Corinne Poitras	USA 30195	Eastern Yacht Club	89	6	15	19	UFD – 49
21	Mike Mergenthaler Alejandra Harris	USA 30410	Lake Norman YC	91	14	20	8	UFD – 49
22	Juan Carlos Cuellar Canizares Ignacio Sanchez Rojas	CAN 30762	Voile Sansoucy	96	19	28	20	29
23	Alex Pline Jill Bennett	USA 29016	Severn Sailing Association	97	36	33	7	21
24	Preston Senior Anna Flynn	USA 29940	Severn Sailing Association	100	DNC – 49	19	18	14
25	Mason Cook Catherine Kammeier	USA 29987	Annapolis Yacht Club	104	26	21	30	27
26	Gavin O’Hare Holly OHare	USA 31322	SSA	106	40	25	23	18
27	Zack Kelchner Megan Kelchner	USA 31846	Severn Sailing Association	107	27	4	27	DNS – 49
28	Charles Green Watt Duffy	USA 31776	CGSC	107	25	26	28	28
29	Greg Virgin Nikki Bruno	USA 31805	SSA	111	23	38	17	33
30	Mark Hillman Marley Hillman	USA 31727	AYC	111	28	35	25	23
31	Lisa Pline Lexi Pline	USA 31313	SSA	114	24	32	36	22
32	Erik Volk Humberto Porrata	USA 30391	USF ALUMI SAILING	117	33	30	35	19
33	Gavin Morris Sunrae Sturmer	USA 164	None	134	42	31	37	24
34	Katja Sertl Chris Schon	USA 996	AYC	134	34	39	31	30
35	Bob Adam Stephanie Adam	USA 30302	Sail Newport	136	17	DNC – 49	21	RET – 49
36	Asher Zittrer Ciara Rodriguez	USA 31300	Lake	138	18	22	RET – 49	RET – 49
37	Emilie Leung Flora Cole	CAN 29324	GCBC/PCYC	139	35	40	38	26
38	Kyle Mergenthaler Carter Little	USA 30404	LNYC	143	37	41	34	31
39	Jed Bell Ruby Gordon	USA 29110	Severn Sailing Association	146	31	34	32	UFD – 49
40	Kathleen Tocke Marisleysis Cedoño	USA 30280	Sail Newport/Buffalo CC	148	21	29	RET – 49	RET – 49
41	Heidi Hicks Min Min Kelly	USA 27903	SPYC	153	44	36	41	32
42	Devon Feusahrens Valentina Kraiselburd	USA 30860	SSA	156	41	37	29	RET – 49
43	Rich McVeigh Carol McVeigh	USA 31061	SSA	160	43	44	39	34
44	Casey Burman Emory McAllister	USA 3019	Annapolis Yacht Club / SSA	165	38	DNC – 49	43	35
45	Charles Geraghty Sarina Muto	USA 3199	SSA	173	39	43	42	DNF – 49
46	Travis Carlisle Shelby Jacobs	USA 29782	SSA	180	NSC – 49	42	40	DNF – 49
47	Roberto Guaragna Erik Guaragna Jensen	USA 30023	Miami #7	188	45	45	RET – 49	DNF – 49
48	Kenneth Luczynski	USA 30362	SSA	196	DNC – 49	DNC – 49	DNC – 49	DNC – 49