2003 Gulf Coast Sunfish Regional Championship
April 12-13, 2003
Pensacola Beach Yacht Club
The Gulf Coast Sunfish Regionals were held April 12/13th
at Pensacola Beach Yacht club. 35 boats competed in an extremely competitive fleet as most
had difficulty finishing inside the top10. Racing started promptly on Saturday at noon
with 5 knot winds that built throughout the day to 15 knots from the southwest. After a
long first day of racing and 5 races back to back, there were 5 different race winners.
Competitors and yacht club members relaxed afterwards with dinner and a band at the club.
Racing was scheduled to start at 10:00 am on Sunday but
after an 1-1/2 delay on the water for lack of wind, racing started with a south breeze at
5 building to 8. After two races everyone hit the beach, it was so close that nobody
really knew who won. As it turned out, nobody considered that in the next to last race...
Donny Brennan had come from as far back as eigth to finish second in the last half of the
last beat of the sixth race. Everyone had considered him out of contention. When the
scores were totaled, Donny Brennan WON with 24 points... Kevin Northrup was second with 25
points... Hank Saurage was third also with 25 points ( all of whom though they each had
won )... Fourth was Jackson Benvenutti with 27 points and fifth was Marcus Eagan with 32
points.... Additional trophies that were awarded to competitors outside of the top five
included Tom Whitehurst - Top Master, Leslie Dane - Top Female and the top three Juniors
were Ryan Hamilton, Schaefer Dane and Paul Kieth.
The next Circuit event ( third of seven ) will be in
Mobile, AL at the Spring Regatta ( May 18/19th ) and should add even more excitement as
local sailors are getting ready for this years Sunfish North Americans ( NA’s ) in
early July. Bay-Wayland Yacht Club in Bay St. Louis, MS will be hosting this event. Marcus
Eagan of Bay Wayland will be trying to defend his title he won last year in Barrington,
Rhode Island.
A new group of competitors lead the Gulf Coast Sunfish
Circuit after the first two of seven events. They are as follows: Kevin Northrup of
Pass Christian and Donny Brennan of Mobile both have 1,2 finishes respectfully after the
Dogwood in Fairhope and the Regionals in Pensacola Beach. Hank Saurage ( 2001 Circuit
winner from Baton Rouge ) is in third with 7 points and Tom Whitehurst runner up for the
last two year from Pensacola ) is fourth with 10 points and Bishop Stieffel (last year
circuit winner from Bay-Wayland ) rounds out the top five with 16 points. Competitors keep
their best four overall finishes in the Circuit with races starting in March at the
Dogwood and ending in December at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Last year's circuit came
down to the last leg of the last race in last event of the circuit.
Regionals Results:
| Pl |
Sail # |
Skipper |
From |
Div |
Race 1 |
Race 2 |
Race 3 |
Race 4 |
Race 5 |
Race 6 |
Race 7 |
Total |
| 1 |
8 |
Donny Brennan |
BucYC |
M |
2 |
(10) |
10 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
24 |
| 2 |
77809 |
Kevin Northrup |
PCYC |
|
6 |
(6.5\TIE) |
6 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
25 |
| 3 |
75200 |
Hank Saurage |
SYC |
M |
5 |
(8) |
4 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
25 |
| 4 |
567 |
Jackson Benvenutti |
BWYC |
J |
7 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
11 |
1 |
(13) |
27 |
| 5 |
78495 |
Marcus Eagan |
BWYC |
|
(13) |
3 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
13 |
9 |
32 |
| 6 |
86125 |
Clinton Edwards |
BWYC |
|
4 |
6.5\TIE |
7 |
11 |
9 |
(20) |
2 |
39.5 |
| 7 |
8689 |
Tom Whitehurst |
PBYC |
M |
(12) |
5 |
8 |
12 |
4 |
10 |
3 |
42 |
| 8 |
78287 |
Ryan Hamilton |
PonYC |
J |
3 |
4 |
14 |
8 |
(17) |
17 |
8 |
54 |
| 9 |
71 |
Schaeffer Dane |
PCYC |
J |
(19) |
9 |
3 |
14 |
12 |
8 |
11 |
57 |
| 10 |
43681 |
Bishop Stieffel |
BWYC |
|
11 |
(17) |
16 |
6 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
60 |
| 11 |
31 |
Leslie Dane |
PCYC |
M/W |
15 |
13 |
11 |
15 |
(19) |
7 |
5 |
66 |
| 12 |
77518 |
Anne Edwards |
BWYC |
W |
1 |
2 |
13 |
(19) |
16 |
19 |
16 |
67 |
| 13 |
76453 |
Todd Edwards |
BWYC |
M |
8 |
11 |
9 |
7 |
(30\DNF) |
18 |
17 |
70 |
| 14 |
112 |
John F. Dane |
PCYC |
|
9 |
18 |
12 |
9 |
5 |
21 |
(22) |
74 |
| 15 |
80168 |
Bill Betts |
BWYC |
|
21 |
15 |
5 |
21 |
10 |
(24) |
4 |
76 |
| 16 |
87460 |
Peter Wuescher |
SYC |
M |
18 |
(20) |
15 |
13 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
88 |
| 17 |
711 |
John Dane III |
PCYC |
M |
16 |
21 |
17 |
18 |
6 |
12 |
(23) |
90 |
| 18 |
78790 |
Paul Keith |
BWYC |
J |
10 |
12 |
(23) |
20 |
22 |
15 |
15
|
94 |
| 19 |
111 |
Greg Reardon |
PonYC |
M |
17 |
14 |
18 |
10 |
18 |
23 |
(30\DNF) |
100 |
| 20 |
73703 |
Johnny White |
BWYC |
J |
14 |
19 |
26 |
(30\DNF) |
30\DNF |
4 |
12 |
105 |
| 21 |
7812 |
John Chapoton |
BWYC |
J |
(24) |
24 |
20 |
17 |
13 |
16 |
20 |
110 |
| 22 |
8471 |
Lauren Whitehurst |
PBYC |
J/W |
20 |
16 |
(24) |
22 |
24 |
11 |
18 |
111 |
| 23 |
3208 |
Shannon Mooney |
NOYC |
|
27 |
(28) |
22 |
24 |
21 |
6 |
19 |
119 |
| 24 |
45307 |
David McCary |
ShYC |
M |
(23) |
23 |
19 |
23 |
20 |
22 |
21 |
128 |
| 25 |
78797 |
Raymond Long |
FYC |
M |
25 |
22 |
21 |
16 |
15 |
(30\DNS) |
30\DNS |
129 |
| 26 |
3202 |
Chris Frost |
PontYC |
|
26 |
(27) |
25 |
25 |
23 |
25 |
25 |
149 |
| 27 |
78634 |
Granston Boxx |
BWYC |
J |
(28) |
26 |
27 |
26 |
25 |
26 |
24 |
154 |
| 28 |
3269 |
Cathy Eagan |
BWYC |
M/W |
22
|
25 |
(30\DNF) |
30\DNS |
30\DNS |
30\DNS |
30\DNS |
167 |
| 29 |
645 |
Fred Eagan |
BWYC |
J |
29
|
(30\DNS) |
30\DNS |
30\DNS |
30\DNS |
30\DNS |
30\DNS |
179 |