Bissell Racing

Nassau, Bahamas
April 9-12
 Report by Dave Hughes

Capping his win at the Bacardi Cup earlier in the week, Brian Bissell won the 2008 Tag Heuer Snipe Winter Championship in top form.Going into the final day of racing it was do-or-die for Bissell in the eight-race series.  Snipe master Peter Commettee led overnight, meaning Brian had to put two points on Peter and win a race to ensure the tie-breaker.  Off the first start of Race #7, match racing pursued and Bissell won the start in the middle with Commettee struggling at the boat.  General recall.  The second go-around only intensified. Bissell commanded off the start and led around the track with Peter close behind.  Attempts to slow Peter enough to allow for a boat to squeeze between Brian and Peter did not work.  Still behind in the standings, Brian had to win the Race #8 with Peter 2nd, or place anywhere with a boat between he and Peter. The third place boat was out of the picture. In the end, the final was a near image of the first race of the day.  Brian led around the track with Peter 2nd in a tacking duel that launched the two boats from the fleet.  The win put Brian over the top by 1/2 point under the Snipe class bonus for race wins. Italian Enrico Solerio — who finished 2nd in the Bacardi Cup — took third overall.  A fantastic coat-and-tie awards banquet concluded the regatta and presented the winning crew with their own Tag Heuers.Brian used the AP-4 main and BR-1D+ jib with DeFazio-style tuning on a Sidewinder Gold mast, proving very quick in all conditions.  

Special thank you to Henry Filter for use of his van and helping transport the North Sails Snipe, Peter Commette for storing the boat at his house, Connie Commette for sorting out logistics, Gonzo Diaz for lending us his top-cover and helping us with Nassau shipping, Augie Diaz for lending us his trailer, Dick Bobenz for organizing the Clearwater mid-winters, Ernesto Rodriguez for unloading the Worlds container from Portugal, Jerry Thompson for his overall guidance, Shane the “Life Coach” for showing us Nassau in top fashion, Mark, Tressa and Rebecca Piekarz for absolutely wonderful housing in Nassau, Jimmy and Laurie Lowe for organizing the Nassau event, Robert Dunkley for the use of his Olympic Games sport coat for the awards dinner, Mark Dunkley for local know-how, the Stout family for all their help with Team Blue, David and Susan Odell for answering all our Snipe class questions, the legendary Earl Elms for excellent race committee and good humor, Thad and Annie Inge for being such great hosts in Miami, the team at North Sails One Design, and Kimmer Popoff for…well, pretty much everything!