I met Smitty the second year that I owned a catamaran. Newport RI was hosting the Cat fest... a huge festival with the Orma tri's and a beach cat open regatta. My first regatta ever and I don't even have beach wheels with me. Smitty was a Dart Sailor and a HUGE guy. He knew everything about Darts... He figured out that I was clueless... helped me get my Dart on the beach... Corrected all of my rigging faux pas. Smitty was a larger then life figure and I really appreciated his kindness.

Several years later I was touring Florida with my trusty Dart and again ran into Smitty at Dunedin Beach.. Same guy maybe a bit bigger ... Now sailing a Dart 20 and thinking about single handing a Hobie 20. Smitty was tying to deal with this very precocious 14 year old. Her dad had let her go play with her Hobie 14 inside the Dunedin cut. She had sailed rings around Smitty and he was getting an ear full of grief from her... One of many great memories of great cat sailing people. Fair winds Smitty!

Mark Schneider