2002 SNIPE WESTERN HEMISPHERE AND
ORIENT CHAMPIONSHIP
Sept. 24-28 / Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, Long Beach,
Calif.
www.abyc.org
Sept. 24, 2002 For Immediate Release
BRAZILIANS HEAD SNIPE WESTERN HEMISPHERE-ORIENT CLASSIC
 |
| No question which teams she will
be rooting for. Photo by Rich Roberts |
LONG BEACH, Calif.---An elite fleet
of 25 boats from seven countries featuring reigning world
champion Alexandre Paradeda of Brazil will contest the 2002
Snipe Western Hemisphere and Orient Championship Tuesday through
Saturday.
Flags flown in opening ceremonies at
the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Monday represented Japan, Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, the Bahamas and the United States.
ABYC, well-known internationally for
its first-rate race management, has scheduled seven races---one
Tuesday and two each on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with
Thursday off. All will be sailed on an Olympic-style course
on the open ocean outside the breakwater of Long Beach Harbor.
Paradeda, with crew Flavio Fernandes,
won the 2001 Snipe Worlds at Punte del Este, Uruguay last
November in a performance so dominant that they didn't need
to sail the last race.
Paradeda, 29, thus became an automatic
entry for this event, which is run every two years and is
otherwise restricted to five boats from each member country,
plus the defending champion and single junior entries from
North or South America and the Orient. Nelido Manso and Octavo
Lorenzo of Cuba won the Western Hemisphere-Orient event in
Argentina in 2000 but were unable to obtain U.S. visas to
defend their title.
The Snipe is a 15-1/2 foot, two-person
dinghy. Designed by William Crosby in 1931, it has evolved
from wood construction into a modern, tactical fiberglass
racing dinghy with fleets around the world. It is not an Olympic
class, although Paradeda sailed a similar 470 dinghy at Sydney
in 2000 and remains a member of the Brazilian national team
in that class.
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| A select fleet of 25 boats will
represent seven countries. Photo by Rich Roberts |
Other contenders include Augie Diaz
of Miami and George Szabo of San Diego, five- and four-time
U.S. national champions, respectively; Randy Lake, San Diego,
third in the 2000 Westerns with Piet Van Os as crew, and twins
Javier and Nicolas Ocariz of Argentina, fifth in the last
three Westerns.
Brazil brings the most colorful crowd,
which besides Paradeda and Fernandes includes the only female
skipper, Bibi Juetz, the '98 World Masters champion who sailed
in the 1952 Westerns, and Ivan Pimental, the 2002 Brazilian
national champion whose name brought a smile to Paradeda's
face.
"Crazy Ivan," he said, in
deference to the longtime rival who holds the upper hand to
the world champion in their home country.
Paradeda has been sailing a Snipe for
14 years, the last eight with Fernandes.
"I think that's the secret,"
Paradeda said, "sailing a long time with the same crew.
If you change it takes a long time to win again."
As Paradeda talked in the boatyard,
a younger Brazilian, the tall and thin 20-year-old Marcos
Mascarenhas, eavesdropped nearby. "The new generation,"
Paradeda teased. "He's the future."
Is the future here? "Maybe we'll
see this week," Paradeda said.
The complete entry list and other information
are available at www.abyc.org. Results/standings, a report
and photos will be posted after each day of racing. High-resolution
photos suitable for print reproduction will be available upon
request.
CHAIRMAN
Gordon Brown
(562) 434-9955
abyc@abyc.org or browgrdn@aol.com
PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
cell phone (310) 766-6547
richsail@earthlink.net
