Team Ft. Lauderdale, FL representing Hospice Regatta 2006

Competing Skipper 2006 -- Chris Woolsey, Team Ft. Lauderdale

I spent my early years sailing the precursor to the Optimist, the Clearwater Optimist Pram, out of the Lauderdale Yacht Club, and crewing on my dad’s 41-foot centerboard boat in races in and around South Florida. When not racing, my on the water time was spent cruising on the big boat, in the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and in New England. I also sailed a variety of dinghies and small keel boats before taking a few years away from the sport in the late 80s and early 90s

I rediscovered the fun of sailing when I purchased an old Morgan 24 named "Yellow Jacket," with no intention whatsoever of racing again, but only for day-sailing purposes. Those intentions lasted a matter of hours, before PHRF racing once again entered the picture. The Yellow Jacket team raced in South Florida, the Bahamas, the West Coast of Florida and a couple of other areas, winning our share of races and parties, before going our own ways to sail on other boats like Hobie 33s and the like. I was quite content sailing Hobies, mostly because they belonged to someone else...until I was fortunate enough to get an invitation to do the Transpac a few years back on a bigger boat. I returned home from Hawaii with the realization that I needed to push my learning curve to a more vertical position, bought an SR 33, and have had some spectacular failures, including an appointment with Dr. Crash, many learning experiences, and many successes, including the chance for our team to sail in the Hospice National Championship Regatta.

The opportunity to participate in the 2007 regatta, and bring attention to Hospice Care, is particularly gratifying on a personal level. One of the best things about racing boats is the number of friendships one makes along the way. One of those friends, himself a long time supporter of Hospice Care and participant in the Hospice Regatta here in Ft. Lauderdale, spent his remaining days in Hospice Care. Wes Holmes was a friend to a lot of us here in Ft. Lauderdale, we miss him on the water and off; and he will be on our minds at the regatta.

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