Winners Crowned at the 21st C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta & 2023 U.S. Para Sailing Championships

By Sam Crichton

Twenty-one 2.4mR sailors competed in the 21st C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta and 2023 U.S. Para Sailing Championships.  © Clagett Sailing/Andes Visual

Thirty-one sailors competing at the 21st C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta and 2023 U.S. Para Sailing Championships completed three days of racing on June 25, which was preceded by a two-day coaching clinic.

The 21 sailors in the 2.4mR class and five boats in the Martin 16 class completed eight races with a variety of conditions from rain to fog to sun and everything in between. Principal Race Officer Tom Duggan commented after the regatta, “It turned out to be a great weekend for weather when we thought it wasn’t going to happen.  We had to wait every day for the breeze which was from a mostly southerly direction between four-10 knots.”

In the larger fleet of the two classes racing this year, the 2.4mR class, the titles for the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta and the 2023 U.S. Para Sailing Championship went to Julio Reguero who was defending his Clagett Regatta title from 2022. Second in the 2.4mR class for the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta and the winner of the U.S. National Para Champion and the Judd Goldman Trophy was Charlie Rosenfield. In third pace in the Clagett Regatta was Tony Pocklington and in the U.S. Para Sailing Championship it was Peter Eager who took home the bronze.

First time teammates Tim Brown and Sarah Everhart Skeels won the Martin 16 gold medal in the U.S. Para Sailing Championships.   © Clagett Sailing/Andes Visual

Reguero, who also took home the overall trophy for the Clagett Regatta and whose next stop in his 2.4mR sailing is Finland for the 2.4mR World Championships said after the awards ceremony, “It was amazing to pull off my results with the conditions today. I want to thank everyone at Clagett Sailing for all their support I receive from them and what they do for our sailing community. Winning all three trophies was a cherry on top.”

The doublehanded Martin 16 class, with five boats racing, was won by Gary Pierce and Jeff Long in the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta.  “It was a great weekend, we had a blast and did better than I thought we would.  We took the coaching every day and applied it on the course and it paid dividends so we did truly Learn, Race and Win,” said Pierce. Second in the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta was Steven Safford and Albert Pierce and in third was Tim Brown and Sarah Everhart Skeels.  In the U.S. Para Sailing Championships in the Martin 16 it was Tim Brown and Sarah Everhart Skeels who took home gold and Dawn Hart and Kris Scheppe who took the silver. Brown said upon receiving the Chandler Hovey Trophy, “This is my third Clagett Regatta and to be accepting this award is an amazing collaboration between everyone here. Thank you.” Brown’s crew Everhart Skeels commented, “This is my first time sailing as crew in my disabled sailing career and the first time sailing with Tim who started sailing only three years ago.”

Defending his 2022 title, Julio Reguero scored a trifecta at this year’s Clagett Newport.   © Clagett Sailing/Andes Visual

Clagett Sailing President and Co-Founder Judy Clagett McLennan said, “We’ve had a bit of everything with weather over the last five days and I’d like to share a comment Casey Kirwin made in the tent earlier: ‘Nature treats everyone equally. She continued, “A huge thank you to so many who make this clinic and regatta happen. Without their continued support and commitment, it wouldn’t happen, from the PRO Tom Duggan and race committee, to the coaches, our Bosun Gene Hinkel, our medical team and the Jury, along with the Co-Chairs for the annual Fundraiser.”

Clagett Sailing would like to thank the following 2023 sponsors – Fiduciary Trust International at the Platinum level; BCD at the Gold level and Innovative Construction Inc. at the Bronze level; US Sailing would like to thank event sponsor Gill Marine for their support of the US Sailing Adult Championships. For more information, please visit clagettsailing.org. ■