SCIRA

Snipe Class International Racing Association

Sport	Sailing
Abbreviation	SCIRA
Founded	1932;93 years ago (1932)
Affiliation	World Sailing
Headquarters	2812 Canon Street, San Diego, CA 92106
Other key staff	Jerelyn Biehl (executive director)
Commodore	Martín Bermúdez de la Puente
Official website
www.snipe.org

The Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIRA) is the governing body for the Snipe class in the sport of sailing, recognized as an international class by World Sailing.

History

SCIRA was established in November 1932, and Hub E. Isaacks of Snipe fleet number 1 at Dallas Sailing Club was the first commodore. ^[1] In March 1933, SCIRA chartered fleet number 8 to the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club in Dover Harbour, Kent, becoming the first fleet established outside the United States. ^[2] By 1936, the Snipe class became the world's largest racing class. ^[3]

Board officers

Jerelyn Biehl, the paid, full-time executive firector, runs the class association office. ^[4]

The SCIRA Board of Governors holds bi-annual meetings, usually during the World Championship.

Board of governors
Voting members
Officer	Name	Tenure	Period
Commodore	Martín Bermúdez de la Puente	2 years	2025–26
Vice commodore	Paola Prada	2 years	2025–26
Secretary	Taylor Scheuermann	2 years	2025–26
Treasurer	Yannick Laumans	4 years	2023–26
Rules chairman	Antonio Bari	4 years	2023–26
General secretary – Europe	Manuel Stichini Vilela	2 years	2025–26
General secretary – WH&O	Alberto Prieto	2 years	2025–26
Non-voting members
Officer	Name	Tenure	Period
Chief measurer	Luis González Álvarez	3 years	2025–28
Chief information officer	Don Bedford	No limit	2013–
Vice Rules chairman		No limit
Executive director	Jerelyn Biehl	No limit	1993–
Legal counsel	Leigh Savage	No limit

Past commodores

Former SCIRA commodores: ^[5]

Period Commodore 1933 Hub E. Isaacks 1934 M. J. Davis 1935 A. H. Bosworth 1936 M. S. A. Reichner 1937 Harry Lund 1938 G. Q. McGown, Jr. 1939 Taver Bayly 1940 H. R. Schuette 1941 Perry Bass 1942–43 C. R. Miller 1944 W. G. Green 1945 George Becker 1946 Charles Heinzerling 1947–48 Donald R. Simonds 1949 Harold Griffith 1950 Roy T. Hurley 1951 John T. Hayward 1952 Owen E. Duffy 1953 Carl Zimmerman 1954 Ted A. Wells 1955 Eddie Williams 1956 Harold L. Gilreath 1957 Terry Whittemore 1958 Fred Schenck 1959 Alan Levinson 1960 Edward Garfield 1961 F. V. G. Penman 1962 Sam W. Norwood 1963 Floyd E. Hughes 1964–65 A. F. Hook

Period Commodore 1966–67 Basil Kelly 1968–69 Robert Schaeffer 1970 Ángel Riveras 1971 William M. Kilpatrick 1972 Richard L. Tillman 1973–74 Ralph M. Swanson 1975 Stuart L. Griffing 1976 Svend Rantil 1977 Dan Williams 1978 Bruce Colyer 1979 Flavio Caiuby 1980 Gonzalo E. Diaz Sr. 1981 Paul F. Festersen 1982 Arturo Delgado 1983 Douglas DeSouza 1984 Eugene T. Tragus 1985 Roberto J. Salvat 1986–87 Wayne Soares 1988 Jerry Thompson 1989 Per Ole Holm 1990 Peter Fenner 1991 R. Means Davis 1992 Fujiya Matsumoto 1993 Terry Timm 1994 Horacio Garcia Pastori 1995 Jimmie Lowe 1996 Giorgio Brezich 1997 Gonzalo Diaz Jr. 1998 Akibumi Shinoda 1999 Lee Griffith

Period Commodore 2000 Id Crook 2001 Bertel Bojlesen 2002 Birger Jansen 2003 Brainard Cooper 2004 Jiro Yamamoto 2005 Henrique Motta 2006–07 Robert Dunkley 2008–09 Pedro Garra 2010–11 Luis Pessanha 2012–13 Don Bedford 2014–15 Ricardo Lobato 2016–17 Gweneth Crook 2018–19 Pietro Fantoni 2020–22 Luis Soubié 2023–24 Zbigniew Rakocy

• 
  Ted Wells, 1954 commodore.
• 
  Birger Jansen, 2002 commodore.
• 
  Pietro Fantoni, 2018-19 commodore.

References

1. "International Snipe Class". Snipe Sailing in Texas.
2. "80th Anniversary celebration of Dover Snipe Fleet No 8". Yachts & Yachting.
3. "Scuttlebutt" (PDF). Atlanta Yacht Club.
4. "Class Officers, Board Members and Executive Director". Snipe.org.
5. Past Commodores