NHRA Fall 04 Newsletter

It’s been a great year for the National Hospice Regatta Alliance. The energy generated by participating regattas has provided numerous hospices with additional resources to support their clients. Each time I hear a story about a local regatta touching the lives of hospice clients I am proud to be part of this organization. It’s the individuals in the local regattas that ultimately are responsible for the fund raising successes we all take pride in. By hosting the National Hospice Regatta Championship the Board members and I hope we are helping you to enjoy the excitement of competition while spreading hospice awareness. Congratulations on your tremendous successes in 2004!

Note to Hospice/Regatta Contacts:

If your regatta isn’t listed here it’s because we haven’t received info, please email your updates, along with photos for publication in the next issue of the newsletter to nhra@hospiceregattas.org

If your skipper is not listed please return the skipper form to Lucy Melvin, '05 Championship Regatta Chairman, songsail@comcast.net and email a sailing bio to nhra@hospiceregattas.org. Skipper info and bios are posted on the Alliance website at the following url:
NHRA Championship 2005 Competitors

The Alliance is pleased to announce the sixth annual
NATIONAL HOSPICE REGATTA CHAMPIONSHIP
will be held in Annapolis, Maryland
April 15-17, 2005

Please check the Championship Page, details will be posted as announced --Stay tuned

Highlights from 2004 Regattas

New York - Rochester
Hospice Regatta

Sailors Celebrate Life, Raise $65,000 at Rochester’s Hospice Regatta

GRHC/Hospice owes special thanks to the Rochester area’s sailing community, which made the 2004 Hospice Regatta a spectacular success.

Unless you’re a sailor yourself, you may not know much about this group. It includes highly skilled, competitive racers as well as a larger number of men and women who just love to sail – and who have adopted Hospice as a cause they support.

For the past six years, Genesee Yacht Club and Rochester Yacht Club have taken turns hosting the Hospice Regatta – in 2004, it was GYC’s turn. Shumway Marine pitches in to race its fleet of Ideal 18 boats, while sailors from Pultneyville, Brockport and Sodus Bay also respond to the call, “Set sail and celebrate life.”

racing on the spinnaker course

For some, supporting the Regatta is an expression of gratitude for care provided to a family member, friend or neighbor who needed Hospice services to assure comfort and dignity at the end of life. For others, it’s a more general effort to give something back to the community.

On Saturday, August 28, 94 skippers and crews raised their sails on Lake Ontario in three fleets. Those boats sailed in memory of more than 280 loved ones, whose names were added to the Regatta’s Memorial Sail for 2004 in an enduring tribute.

a close-up of the 2004 Memorial Sail

Many skippers and crew accepted the challenge of soliciting donations to sponsor their boat in order to ensure Hospice services will be available to anyone who needs them, whether they have health insurance or not. Two boats collected more than $3,000 apiece in donations to Hospice, much of it in small contributions from “Hospice Helpers.”

Colleen and Dan Gray writing names on the 2004 Memorial Sail

In all, more than 700 individuals and businesses helped raise a record-breaking $65,000 at the Hospice Regatta — more than any other event in the history of GRHC Hospice. The sailing community’s unprecedented contributions assist GRHC Hospice in providing vital comfort-focused services to about 400 patients a day, or almost 3,000 individuals and families each year. On behalf of everyone who turns to Hospice when they confront the challenges of terminal illness, we offer our deepest thanks.

Brook Richardson and crew will represent Rochester at the 2005 National Hospice Regatta Championship in Annapolis, Md. (Kirk Reynolds will represent Watertown, NY.

Published September 16, 2004 -- The Capital, Annapolis, Md.By NANCY NOYES, ©2004

Jack Biddle might not have earned his class' top spot in last Saturday's Hospice Cup XXIII, but he and his Rum Puppy crew turned in a solid performance in difficult conditions to take the Hospice Cup Trophy.

The trophy recognizes the best performance over the past three years.

Biddle's team gave up first and second in the 11-boat J/105 class to Stewart and Eric Greene and their Dove crew and Art Libby's Results team, respectively, but when scored on a high-point basis with last year's second-place finish of 20 and a win in 2002's 24-boat class, Rum Puppy emerged over several teams in other classes to take the big trophy. Sailing with Biddle on Saturday were Cap Pin, Leigh Patterson, Will Crump, Paul Murphy, and Mike Mergenthaler.

Biddle explained that most Chesapeake Bay J/105s have had shoal-draft keels, which has made them ineligible to travel to national competitions elsewhere, and to host national events here on the Bay. This is changing, however; many of the boats already have been pulled and are having deep keels installed, and many more will be doing so very soon. "I actually put off having my keel replaced so I could do Hospice Cup," Biddle said. "Hospice took care of both my parents, and made it possible for them to pass away at home, so it means a lot to me," he explained.

But because CBYRA High Point scoring for the class for 2004 will be done for the shoal-drafters only before switching next year, Biddle needed to retain his old keel for the occasion.

Although it will take a week or more for final figures to be available, this year's Hospice Cup has definitely raised over $550,000 to directly benefit six area hospices in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington: Capital Hospice, Community Hospices, Hospice of the Chesapeake, Montgomery Hospice, Hospice of Queen Anne's, and St. Agnes Hospice.

For many of the 92 crews racing in Hospice Cup XXIII yesterday, it was a short and sweet experience.

In light and persistently shifting air, all 11 regular CBYRA classes sailed a three-legged, 4.76-mile windward-leeward course, while the six boats of the Hospice Class sailed a government mark course of 4.6 miles. From the time the first starting gun went off for the PHRF A0 boats at 11:05 a.m., the entire fleet, including the Hospice Class which started a little over an hour later, had finished by 2:15 p.m.

Hosted on the water by Shearwater Sailing Club, Hospice Cup XXIII was a big success off the water, too. Final figures are not yet available, but the event raised over $550,000 to directly benefit six area hospices in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C.: Capital Hospice, Community Hospices, Hospice of the Chesapeake, Montgomery Hospice, Hospice of Queen Anne’s, and St. Agnes Hospice.

Because of its fundraising nature, Hospice Cup includes a special Hospice Class, for boats and teams who do not normally race. Three sponsored trophies recognize performance in this class: the Martin F. McCarthy Trophy for the class winner; the Lovelace/Sniegon Memorial Trophy for the top performer with a hospice caregiver aboard, and the Allan C. Westcott Trophy for the caregiver aboard that boat. This year, all three trophies went to team members aboard Valkyrie, raced by Bob Muller and his Aunt Hazel, with caregiver Karen Bryant aboard.

Earning nearly as many of the overall trophies was John Sherwood, whose Grace team topped the 13-boat PHRF A2 class. Sherwood was sailing with an all-female crew, attired in pink T-shirts, including Bonnie Urban, Karla Alwood, Teri Nilsen, Cindi Gibson, Sue Mikulski, Nell Cogner, and Jamila Mayo-Schagger.

The team had no previous experience sailing together, but quickly coalesced into the day’s top team both in the PHRF Fleet overall to win the Mills Fine Wine & Spirits Trophy, and turn in the best performance in the entire fleet for the Running Tide Trophy.

The day’s big on-water winner of the Hospice Cup Trophy itself, which recognizes the best performance over the past three years, was Jack Biddle, whose Rum Puppy crew took third in the 11-boat J/105 class this year, after placing second of 20 last year and first of 24 in 2002. By virtue of this win, Biddle and his team qualified to sail in next April’s National Hospice Regatta Championship.

Winning the Hank Lawton Trophy for the top fundraising crew was the Lift Ticket team, fourth in the J/105s, led by Jeffrey Harris. The top Cruising One-Design trophies, the Sajak Family Foundation award for best in this division and the new Mr. & Mrs. Steve deCastro Trophy, for second place, also went to the J/105 class, rewarding Stewart and Eric Greene and the Dove team and Art Libby and his Results crew, respectively.

The 11th Annual Hospice Charity Cup, held the weekend of August 7th, in scenic Henderson Harbor resulted in a net profit of over $40,000, announced Linda Barniak, Executive Director of the Hospice Foundation of Jefferson County. 100% of the proceeds from the fundraiser go toward the Foundation's mission of providing financial assistance for Hospice of Jefferson County and their mission of providing care for individuals and their families, experiencing a life threatening illness.

The weather forecast was not ideal, but the day turned out to be perfect. Lack of wind delayed the races for about an hour but the winds picked up in the late morning giving the skippers and their crew great sailing conditions.

26 Boats sailed in this year’s Regatta, with the overall Championship going to Kirk Reynolds, he and his crew will represent Hospice of Jefferson County and the Henderson Harbor Yacht Club in the National Hospice Regatta Championships, in April 2005 in Annapolis, Maryland.

Again, the businesses and residents of Village of Henderson Harbor along with our many dedicated volunteers and loyal supporters were there to make the event an enjoyable weekend for all. The Walk-a-thon, Tube Races, Home & Garden Tour and the Silent Auction were well attended and enjoyable. Incorporating several activities aimed at attracting a diverse group of people helps make this event so successful year after year.

Direct community contact and education about Hospice and its mission remain a very important objective of this event.

August 8 was "an absolutely perfect day of sailboat racing" in the Southern Chesapeake Bay.

Twenty-three boats turned out, racing in a West to Northwest breeze of 5-10 knots, with some gusts to 12 knots. No one was over the starting line early, no one protested anyone else, and everyone repaired to the new Hampton Yacht Club deck for crabs, beer and sodas.

The sailors contributed above and beyond their entry fees, and a silent auction raised additional money for Riverside Hospice and Edmarc Hospice for Children.

For more information send E-mail to hospiceregatta@yahoo.com.

Gaylark, Spring Tide Win in Light Air - By Aaron Porter, Courtesy of The Ellsworth American

SOUTHWEST HARBOR — For many Mainers, the past weekend felt like the first real summer weather of the season. It was hot and humid with thundershowers building over the land in the afternoon. On the coast, the fog came and went frequently. For the eighth annual Hospice Regatta, conditions could have been better, but they could have been considerably worse.

International One Design Sloop j’Ellie Bean makes graceful work of the windward leg during Saturday’s Hospice Regatta.

As it was, conditions were a bit damp for the Junior Regatta, which started Thursday. But when it came time for the big boats to head out around the course on Saturday, the skies brightened, although visibility remained less than ideal on some of the outer legs of the race. Regatta racing got under way with the start of the 2004 Maine state Optimist pram racing championships on Thursday. Included as part of the Junior Hospice Regatta, the state championships were a major addition to this year’s competition. With competitors from the length of Maine’s generous coast, local talent carried the day. Max Soriano of the Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club in Blue Hill took first-place honors, followed by Fin Hadlock of the Harraseeket Yacht Club in South Freeport.

Junior regatta competition also included racing of a fleet of 420s based at the Mount Desert Island Community Sailing Center. That series was won by Alan Platner and Emily Kuehn of the Sorrento Yacht Club. Second place was taken by the team of Nathan McMullen and Graham Glass of the MDI Community Sailing Center.

Saturday, the major day of competition at the regatta, dawned foggy but cleared enough to get a start off by about 10 a.m. The fleet of 15 congregated just southeast of Greenings Island. In a break from recent tradition, the race headed immediately out the Western Way, instead of up to the buoy at the mouth of Somes Sound. That meant boats headed directly into the fog, hanging just outside the Cranberry Isles.

Navigators and bow lookouts were given a workout as the fleet beat to windward, with a fair tide, out to the channel. The 22.4-mile race course ran out around Black Island, the Whistle buoy off Baker Island, then up to East Bunker Ledge and back in the Eastern Way to finish in Great Harbor late in the day. Variable winds from the southeast and fog that closed in again about 3:30 p.m. made for a long day on the water. Five boats didn’t finish.

Photo by Aaron Porter

International One Design, photo 1

The fleet was divided into two classes, Class A with spinnakers and Class C without. Winning on corrected time were, Kaighn Smith’s Swan 38 Gaylark in Class A and John Forsgren’s Hinckley Southwester 52 Spring Tide in Class C. Second place in Class A went to Robert Johnstone sailing the J100 Tern. Third place went to William Wilkinson in the j105 Grey Eagle. He was followed by Richard Schotte in Lena; Tom Rolfes in Sidewinder. Class C second place honors went to David Holmes in the Hinckley Southwester 42 Free Spirit. Pequot, a Hinckley 44 saoled by Bevin Cherot rounded out the top three in Class C. Alan Krulisch in the Cambria 40 Crackerjack and Hal Kroeger in the Morris 52 Far Out were the only other boats to finish in
Class C.

The afternoon also featured International One Design racing in the comparative clear, breezy conditions in the Great harbor area. First place honors went to David Rockefeller Jr. sailing Tundra. He was followed by Scott Redmon sailing Firefly, Jock Crothers in Cygnet, and last year’s winner Henry Brauer in Reiver.

In this second year of High Card for Hospice competition, powerboats were again included in the regatta. The poker run on water had boats steaming to at least five designated docks in the neighborhood. participants assembled a poker hand by drawing a card from a deck at each stop. The highest hand potentially pays a big return. If it’s a royal flush the winner takes home a new Stanley Subaru. That didn’t happen this year. The highest hand of 2004 was drawn by David Doolittle on Galivant. He drew a pair of aces and a pair of nines.

The annual regatta is a charity event to benefit Hospice of Hancock County. The volunteer organization provides help for individuals facing death. It also offers support to their families and friends through a bereavement program.

20 Boats Compete in this year's Oswego County Hospice Cup Regatta

Mike Ingham, sailing Brain Cramp, took the overall win in the fifth annual Oswego County Hospice Regatta on June 5. Winds were light and the lake was calm as Mike sailed Brain Cramp, a J-24 sponsored by Touchstone Technologies, to finish first in his division in 2 of the 3 races held. He came in second in his division on the first race of the day. Mike and his crew will travel to Annapolis in April, 2005, to represent Oswego in the National Hospice Regatta Championship. Kiki Voss, in her boat, Pipsqueak, a J-22, won second place overall in the regatta. She also came to Oswego for the racing from Rochester. Winner of the third place overall was Charlie Krylo, sailing his J-24, Seaweed.

All proceeds from the race, and its accompanying activites , the 5k Walk/Run for Hope, and the Family Fun Events held in Brietbeck Park during the day, are for the benefit of Oswego County Hospice patients and their families. For more information on the standings, go to 2004 Hospice Cup Regatta Results.

Sportsmanship Award: An emotional moment during the awards presentation was experienced by everyone present as Charlie Krylo accompanied by his wife, Inta, accepted the Sportsmanship Award and spoke of their son, Charlie Jr., an avid sailor, who passed away suddenly in January this year.

Tim Comerford presents the Comerford/Van Drake Sportsmanship Award to Charlie Krylo.

Thanks go to Sue Carey, Executive Director of Friends of Oswego County Hospice, Tara Fitzgibbons and Dianna Benson, co-chairs of this year's event, Dick White, PRO for the regatta, and to all the volunteers and sponsors whose work and contributions made this event possible.

View Oswego County Hospice Cup Regatta '04 photos please click on the following link: '04 Regatta Photos
View Oswego County Hospice Cup Regatta '04 Race Results please click on the following link: '04 Race Results:

HospiceCare Sails Ashore for Annual Regatta/Clambake

June, 2004 Ft. Lauderdale, FL- HospiceCare of Southeast Florida, Inc. celebrated their eighth annual Regatta and New England Clambake, May 21-22nd, 2004. The Regatta is an exciting day of sailing for all levels. Nearly 100 teams of sailboat racing and cruising enthusiasts were back to enjoy the beautiful waters off Fort Lauderdale Beach to help raise funds for HospiceCare.

Skippers and their crew met at the newly renovated Lauderdale Yacht Club to discuss the racing rules on Friday, May 21st. This year's event was Co-Chaired by Bruce Ownby and Roman Gastesi, MD, Ken Batzer, Race Chairman and Honorary Chair, Craig Setzer, Meteorologist,
CBS 4.

Saturday, the weather was perfect as seven different race classes sailed to the finish mark. The boats started between the Yankee Clipper Hotel and Las Olas Boulevard sailing north towards Deerfield Beach and finishing back at the start.
The Robert “Skip” Hershberger Sportsmanship Trophy was awarded to Linda Greaber and was presented by HospiceCare of Southeast Florida, Inc. The Wes Holmes “Spirit of Hospice” Cup was awarded to Patrick Mitchell "Judy Mae" who raised $5,900.00 for HospiceCare and was presented by Gulf Stream Sailing Club. The PHRF [Minus] trophies were presented by HospiceCare of Southeast Florida, Inc. and awarded to: 1st Place - Jim Wallace - "Contrails", 2nd Place - Dan Myers - "E-Ticket", 3rd Place - Tim Leonard - "Meantime". The Cook's Trophy was taken by Roy Rindom - "Turnabout II" and was presented by Jim Cali. The Yacht Club Challenge was awarded to the CAT 44 Club and was presented by Lauderdale Yacht Club.

Hospice Regatta Fort Lauderdale is a proud member of the National Hospice Regatta Alliance and participates annually in the National Hospice Regatta Championship in Annapolis, MD. Dan Myers will be representing Hospice Regatta Fort Lauderdale in April of 2005. After the race over 800 guests came out to enjoy the New England style clambake off Esplanade Park. Stanley C. Panther, the official Florida Panthers mascot, drew crowds around him while the guests enjoyed a Reggae relaxed atmosphere. The New England Clambake, catered by Hugh's Catering, began around 6 pm and featured exquisite Maine lobsters, Legal Sea Foods Clam chowder, Matusalem Rum, a live Band, and a silent auction.

The sponsors of the event included: Legal Sea Foods, Matusalem Rum, Marine Industries Association of South Florida, International Yachtsman Magazine, UK Sails – Miami, RPM Diesel Inc., Las Olas Magazine, Waterfront News, S.C.G. & Associates, Inc. and Hugh's Catering. The Regatta is a volunteer driven event and all proceeds benefit the patients and their families of HospiceCare of Southeast Florida, Inc.

These competitors in the year 2004 regional regattas are invited to compete in the championship to be April, 2005 in Annapolis, Maryland

Click on skipper names highlighted in red for more about their sailing background

NHRA member regatta resources

Printing:
Jolly Rogers Printing- From Lake Norman, North Carolina
Attn: Kathy C. Rogers
214 Fairwood Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28203
704-332-0053
jrogersprinting@bellsouth.net

California	San Diego	TBD
Connecticut	Long Island Sound	Bill Healy
Florida	Ft. Lauderdale	Dan Myers
Florida	Naples	TBD
Maine	Southwest Harbor	TBD
Maryland	Annapolis	Jack Biddle
Maryland	Havre de Grace	TBD
Massachusetts	Marblehead	TBD
New York	Henderson Harbor	Kirk Reynolds
New York	Niagara County	Don Finkle
New York	Oswego County	Mike Ingham
New York	Rochester	Brook Richardson
North Carolina	Lake Norman	Chuck Lineberry
North Carolina	Pamlico River	TBD
Ohio	Sandusky	TBD
Rhode Island	Narragansett Bay	TBD
South Carolina	Hartwell Lake	TBD
Virginia	Hampton Roads	Sanford Richardson
Virginia	Rappahannock River	TBD