THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 6, 1994 TAG: 9409060175
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS EDITOR
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
For Jeff Hanna, the thrill was in winning his second Virginia state championship in the Hampton one-design class Monday at the 50th annual Norfolk Yacht and Country Club Regatta.
But the real honor, he said, was in receiving the Governor's Cup for his efforts from Constance Dupont Darden, the widow of former Gov. Colgate W. Darden Jr., founder of the cup.
``I didn't really know who she was until someone explained it to me,'' said Hanna, 26, of Seaford. ``But everyone was crowding around her and making a big thing of seeing her, so I could see that she was someone special. You could tell that she was a very classy lady.''
Hanna said he was relieved to be able to get in a three-race series Monday, after two days of blustery winds and rough seas.
Hanna won one of Monday's three races, finishing second to Bill Cofer of Virginia Beach in another race and second to Eddie Wolcott Jr. of Norfolk in the third.
Cofer finished second in the regatta's largest field, followed by Wolcott, the current class national champion.
Mitchell Rogers of the Old Dominion Sailing Association of Norfolk won all five races in the Laser class, while Kevin Downey of the ODSA took four firsts and a second in Flying Junior.
Walt Collins of Chesapeake, winner of four consecutive national titles in the Classic Moth class, surprised no one by winning all three races for that fleet, while Chris Harrell of Norfolk took all three in Optimist, and M.T. Aydlett of Elizabeth City won three times in Sunfish.
Three other scheduled classes, Mobjack, International 5-0-5 and Flying Scot, were unable to field enough boats for starts Monday.
Flying Junior and Laser skippers completed six races and were allowed to score their best five.
The results:
HAMPTON: 1. Kevin Hanna, Hampton Yacht Club, Seaford, 1st-2nd-2nd, 4.75 points; 2. Bill Cofer, Norfolk Yacht and Country Club, Virginia Beach, 2-3-1, 5.75; 3. Eddie Wolcott Jr., NYCC, Norfolk, 4-1-4, 8.75; 4. Bill Dougherty, HYC, Newport News, 3-6-3, 12; 5. Charles H. McCoy Jr., NYCC, Norfolk, 5-5-6, 16; 6. Jeff Case, no club, Poquoson, 9-4-5, 18.
FLYING JUNIOR: 1. Kevin Downey, Old Dominion Sailing Association, Norfolk, 1-1-1-1-2, 5 points; 2. Aaron Szambecki, ODSA, Norfolk, 2-1-2-2-1, 7.50; 3. Ben Hoover, NYCC, Norfolk, 7-8-4-3-3, 25; 4. Evangeline Callahan, ODSA, Norfolk, 3-2-4-did not start-DNS, 31.
LASER: 1. Mitchell Rogers, ODSA, Norfolk, 1-1-1-1-1, 4.75; 2. Christian Obenshain, ODSA, Norfolk, 4-2-1-3-2, 11.75; 3. Brian McVickers, ODSA, Norfolk, 2-3-2-5-2, 14.
CLASSIC MOTH: 1. Walt Collins, Classic Moth Boat Association, Chesapeake, 1-1-1, 2.25; 2. Erky Gregory, Pasquotank River Yacht Club, Elizabeth City, 3-3-2, 8; 3. John P. Tazewell Jr., NYCC, Norfolk, 5-2-6, 13.
SUNFISH: 1. M.T. Aydlett, PRYC, Elizabeth City, 1-1-1, 2.25; 2. Elizabeth Rode, HYC, Hampton, 2-2-3, 7; 3. Jeff Phillips, NYCC, Norfolk, 3-3-2, 8.
OPTIMIST: 1. Chris Harrell, NYCC, Norfolk, 1-1-1, 2.25; 2. John Warlick, NYCC, Norfolk, 2-3-2, 7; 3. Charles Bonner, NYCC, Virginia Beach, 3-2-3, 8. by CNB