Etchells NA Midwinter East Series - Schoonmaker Cup preview

by John Payne on 27 Feb 2015 The 2014-15 Etchells North American Midwinter East Series wraps up in Miami this weekend with the three-day Jaguar Southeastern Midwinter Regatta for the Schoonmaker Cup. The Jag, as the series has become better known, attracted over 50 boats for the four regatta series.

Eight races are scheduled for Friday-Sunday, and it will all be on the line for not only the regatta title, but for the overall series championship as well.

The forecast calls for good breeze all weekend with velocities ranging from 10-20 knots. But, that doesn't mean the crews will be out in Coconut Grove this week carbo-loading. As a class sanctioned event crew total weight limits will be enforced.

The scoring for the overall series crown is comprised of a boat’s best two finish places in the first three regattas of the series plus her score in this weekend’s Mid-winter Championship. Going into the finale, as many as ten teams have a legitimate shot at the overall series crown.

They are led by veteran Argyle Campbell. Campbell leads with four points based on the strength of two second place finishes in the Piana Cup and Florida State Champs. Joining Argyle on the boat will be Michael Menninger, Nick Martin and Kayla McComb.

Close behind is a pair of boats, each tied with six points. Senet Bischoff and Ben Kinney on their boat KGB have a fifth in the Piana Cup and a first in the Sid Doren. Senet’s brother, Clay, will be a part of the team this weekend, making them a formidable opponent. They are tied for second with Steve Benjamin on Scimitar who has come on strong the last two regattas with a third in each of the Sid Doren Memorial and Florida State Champs. Steve will not be able to sail the Midwinters and will hand the tiller over to Stu Neff who will be joined by Chad Atkins and Patrick Wilson.

Two points further back is last year’s overall series winner Peter Duncan with former world champion Jud Smith aboard. They are closely followed by Skip Dieball and Jon McClean on Areatas with nine points.

One point further back is two boats, Jim Cunningham on Lifted and Ante Razmilovic on Swedish Blue. Jim will be joined by his usual crew of Jeff Madrigali, Mark Ivey and Bryn Bachman. They should not be overlooked as Madrigali has been on several Jag Cup Series winning boats. Ante will, once again team up with Chris Larson and Stu Flinn.