Clagett Regatta and 2018 U.S. Para Sailing Championships Overall: Champions crowned

by Sam Crichton 25 Jun 2018 08:14 BST 19-24 June 2018

Scott Lutes and John McRoberts winners of the Chandler Hovey trophy and the RS Venture Connect class at The Clagett © Ro Fernandez

The 16th C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta and the 2018 U.S. Para Sailing Championships have been run and won. Three days of racing, 10 races and the 46 sailors from across North America are now celebrating with the newly crowned champions.

"We've just concluded the 16th Clagett Regatta and we couldn't do it without the support of the volunteers, sponsors, supporters and especially the sailors. We're so thrilled that we've been able to join forces with U.S. Sailing to host the U.S. Para Sailing Championships this year. We are working together to demonstrate the interest in sailing and to get it reinstated to the Paralympics," remarked Clagett President and Co-Founder Judy Clagett McLennan (Portsmouth, R.I.).

Rick Doerr, Dawn Hart and Charles McClure winners of the Gene Hinkel Trophy and the Sonar class at The Clagett - photo © Ro Fernandez

In the triplehanded Sonar class Rio Paralympian and Silver Medalist Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.) sailed in this regatta with a graduate of the Warrior Sailing Program Dawn Hart (Dade City, Fla.) and Charles McClure (Brookline, Mass.). They lead the Sonar fleet from start to finish over the three days. Making Doerr and his crew work for their medal was the team from Chicago of Gary Pierce (Highland Park, Ill.), Patrick LoDuca (Chicago, Ill.) and Jeff Long (Newport, R.I.), who secured second place overall.

"Thank you to my crew members they are real troopers. The competition pushed us and the level just keeps going up. The training is like no other regatta and it's just fantastic to be here with all these great sailors," commented Doerr after prize presentation. He continued after the being presented the Nick Scandone Award, "Nick inspired me a lot when we sailed in Beijing. It isn't about this award it's about being part of this group and these sailors. The challenges we have to overcome as sailors makes the results worthwhile. We owe it to others to set a high bar and pass on own knowledge to the future generations. Nick gave back and now I'm doing it and so is everyone else at this regatta."

Winner of the 2.4mR class at The Clagett Dee Smith credit Clagett Regatta - photo © Ro Fernandez

The 22 boats in the singlehanded 2.4mR fleet have had some fantastic racing with the Principal Race Officer Tom Duggan (East Sandwich, Mass.) commenting after the three days of racing, "It's a super competitive fleet." This fleet was peppered with Paralympians and nearly half the fleet have traveled from all parts of Canada to race at The Clagett and U.S. Para Sailing Championships.

Eventual winner in the largest fleet at the regatta, Dee Smith (Annapolis, Md.) managed to hold off the challengers from Puerto Rico and Canada, of Julio Reguero (Guanynabo, Puerto Rico) and Peter Wood (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), to take home the gold medal with Reguero taking silver and Wood the bronze.

U.S. Para Sailing Singlehanded National Champion Dee Smith with Betsy Alison, and Nancy Mazzulli - photo © Ro Fernandez

Smith commented after presentation, "I haven't been to The Clagett for three years and I want to say thank you to everyone for continuing all their work for this regatta. I give you my congratulations to all the competitors, everyone is getting better and the competition is going to the next level and it has a lot to do with the coaching that The Clagett provides."

A new class to adaptive sailing and The Clagett, the RS Venture Connect, had seven teams racing in a round robin competition over the first two days of racing to make it to the semi-finals Sunday. The top four teams headed in to the finals and it was the former Paralympic duo from Canada of John McRoberts (Victoria, BC, Canada) and Scott Lutes (Mahone Bay, NS, Canada), who sailed in to the top place. In the U.S. Para Sailing Championships the bi-coastal U.S. team of Cristina Rubke (San Francisco, Calif.) and Kris Scheppe (Naples, Fla.) were awarded the silver and the bronze medal went to JR Hardenburgh (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) and Nick Bryan Brown (Jamaica Plain, Mass.).

U.S. Para Sailing Champions Doublehanded Champions Christina Rubke and Kris Kempe with Betsy Alison - photo © Ro Fernandez

"I am very pleased to be back sailing at The Clagett, I'm really pleased to see so many new sailors this year and to have new sailors joining the ranks," commented McRoberts who will be racing with Lutes again in the RS Venture Connect at the Para Sailing World Championships later this year in Sheboygan, Mis. McRoberts and Lutes were announced as the winners of the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Trophy, "It's a true honor and I'm very, very shaken to be awarded this trophy," remarked McRoberts.

For more information about The 2018 Clagett Regatta and U.S. Para Sailing Championships visit: www.clagettregatta.org.

Clagett trophies awarded to:

Sonar

1 Rick Doerr/Dawn Hart/Charles McClure
2 Gary Pierce/Jeff Long/Patrick LoDuca
3 David Gaston/Mike Janota/Kevin Somers

RS Venture Connect

1 John McRoberts and Scott Lutes
2 Christina Rubke and Kris Scheppe
3 JR Hardenburgh and Nick Bryan-Brown

2.4mR

1 Dee Smith
2 Julio Reguero
3 Peter Wood

C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Trophy

– John McRoberts and Scott Lutes

Susan B Johnson

- Sportsmanship Award – Shaylagh Lay

Larry Gadsby

- Most Improved Award – Delani Hulme-Lawrence

Nick Scandone

- Spirit Award – Rick Doerr

Robie Pierce and Gene Hinkle

- Seamanship Award – Y-Knot program

U.S. Para Sailing Championships trophies awarded to:

Judd Goldman Trophy and the U.S. Para Sailing Singlehanded National Champion – Dee Smith
Doublehanded RS Venture Connect team awarded the Chandler Hovey Trophy – John McRoberts and Scott Lutes
U.S. Para Sailing Doublehanded National Champions – Christina Rubke and Kris Scheppe
Triplehanded Sonar team awarded the Gene Hinkel Trophy- Rick Doerr, Dawn Hart, Charles McClure

Overall Results:

2.4mR (22 boats)

Pos	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Dee Smith [USPS2.4mR]	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	3	1	[23/ DNS]	13
2	Julio Reguero [USPS2.4mR]	2	6	4	3	1	[23/ DSQ]	2	1	3	3	25
3	Peter Wood	3	[7]	5	2	5	4	3	5	2	2	31
4	Daniel Evans [USPS2.4mR]	4	5	6	4	7	1	4	[10]	6	1	38
5	Charles Rosenfield [USPS2.4mR]	7	3	2	6	4	5	7	9	7	[23/ DNS]	50
6	Peter Eagar [USPS2.4mR]	5	4	3	8	3	[15]	8	4	13	4	52
7	Tony Pocklington	9	2	8	9	6	7	6	8	9	[23/ DNS]	64
8	Delani Hulme-Lawrence [USPS2.4mR]	13	10	11	7	[14]	3	10	7	4	6	71
9	Kevin Holmberg [USPS2.4mR]	8	9	[23/ RET-AF]	5	10	6	13	12	5	7	75
10	Timothy Ripley [USPS2.4mR]	6	8	7	15	9	10	5	11	[23/ DNS]	12	83
11	Christine Lavallee [USPS2.4mR]	10	11	9	[16]	12	8	11	13	12	9	95
12	Alain Dubuc	11	13	12	11	11	[14]	14	6	11	10	99
13	Janice Graham-Foscarini	12	15	[16]	14	8	12	12	15	14	5	107
14	Aaron Wong-Sng [USPS2.4mR]	16	16	13	10	13	16	9	[17]	8	15	116T
15	Zak Kordik [USPS2.4mR]	14	14	14	12	17	9	15	[23/ OCS]	10	11	116T
16	Siobhan MacDonald [USPS2.4mR]	17	12	10	13	16	11	[19]	16	15	14	124
17	Audrey Kobayashi [USPS2.4mR]	15	18	17	[23/ DNS]	15	13	18	14	17	16	143
18	Maureen McKinnon [USPS2.4mR]	[19]	17	15	18	19	17	16	19	18	17	156
19	Barbara Galinska [USPS2.4mR]	18	19	18	17	[21]	19	20	18	19	13	161
20	Theodore Green	[23/ DNC]	23/ DNC	23/ DNC	23/ DNC	23/ DNC	23/ DNC	23/ DNC	2	16	8	164
21	Antonio Sanpere [USPS2.4mR]	20	20	19	19	18	18	17	20	[23/ DNS]	23/DNS	174
22	Shaylagh Ley [USPS2.4mR]	21	[23/ DNS]	23/DNS	23/ DNS	20	20	21	21	20	18	187

Sonar (4 boats)

Pos	Skipper	Yacht Club	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Rick Doerr/ Dawn Hart/ Charles McClure	Ocean Gate Yacht Club	1	1	2	[3]	1	1	1	1	1	1	10
2	Gary Pierce/Patrick LoDuca/Jeff Long	Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Program	2	2	1	2	[4]	2	2	3	3	3	20
3	David Gaston/Mike Janota/Kevin Somers	Sea Star Base Galveston	[5/RET-AF]	3	3	1	2	3	4	2	2	2	22
4	David Whalen/Spencer Raggio/Dan Kennedy	Y-Knot	3	[4]	4	4	3	4	3	4	4	4	33