Monthly Archives: October 2010

Host of Hospice Championship Wins Prestigious Award

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McLean, VA – Rochester Yacht Club has won the coveted St. Petersburg Yacht Club Trophy for its outstanding organization and management of the 2010 Hospice Regattas National Championship.

Awarded by US Sailing, the national sailing association, the honor is based on ballots by event competitors as well as reports from the protest committee and the Principal Race Officer (PRO), who is in charge of running the races.  Criteria include preparedness, conduct, decision-making and execution by the race committee and the many others whose volunteer efforts made the difference.

“This turned out so well because of the club board’s support and the hard work of the planning committee, onshore volunteers and club staff, the National Hospice Regatta Alliance and, of course, the excellent race committee team members” said PRO Wayne Bretsch.

2010 was the 2nd year of Rochester YC’s 3-year commitment to host the annual Hospice Regattas championship, to which representatives from 26 hospice regattas nationwide are invited.  The hospice championship is the only national sailing event celebrating charity regattas.  “It is unique,” notes Bretsch, “because competitors not only are winners from their local regattas, they are there in support of the Hospice concept.”

Local hospice regattas raise awareness and funds for hospices in their communities.  Since the first hospice regatta in 1982, over $14 million has reached those local hospices. The money is used to provide expert medical care and assistance to patients at the end of life — and help to their families — regardless of insurance coverage or other ability to pay.

For more information about hospice regattas and the national championship, visit www.HospiceRegattas.org.

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Photographs of the 2010 championship are available for publication.  Browse http://www.hospiceregattas.org/2010_pics, then email NHRA@HospiceRegattas.org for assistance or higher resolution files.

About…National Hospice Regatta Alliance – NHRA is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) association of hospice regattas that independently raise money and awareness for hospices in their communities.

The all-volunteer NHRA board helps hospice regattas grow and learn from each other, and it promotes Hospice care nationally.  Alliance members form a nationwide network of 26 hospice regattas, from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the Great Lakes to Florida.

Learn more about the Alliance at http://www.hospiceregattas.org/index.shtml and on Facebook

Local hospice regattas – Each hospice regatta is independently developed and managed by volunteers, hospice staff and sailors, in ways that suit their areas and benefit one or more hospices in their community.

Learn more about each hospice regatta on the Alliance website http://www.hospiceregattas.org/year_10.shtml and follow links from there for conteacts or more detail.

The Hospice Regattas National Championship – The championship promotes and recognizes the achievements of hospice regattas nationwide.  It was and remains the first and only national sailing competition for charity.

The championship offers 3 days of competitive sailing for teams invited from local hospice regattas.  Onshore are many opportunities to socialize, comparing notes about the sailing and the hospice regatta network.

After the June 2011 championship at Rochester YC, the event will move to St. Petersburg Yacht Club, another highly-respected club.  The purpose of moving the championship around the country is to build national awareness of both hospice care and the network of local regattas.

Rochester Yacht Club – Incorporated in 1877, RYC is renowned for its race management.  RYC’s first regatta was held in 1877 with eight sailboats.  More typically now, RYC hosts many times that, such as 104 boats at the 2008 J/22 World Championship.

Located on the south shore of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Genesee River, the club also hosts a highly successful local hospice regatta in odd-number years.  In even-number years the local hospice regatta is hosted by neighboring Genesee Yacht Club

Area Turkeys Flee Regatta –Turkey Shoot Hospice Regatta

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Apparently afraid of being shot, hundreds of turkeys along the Rappahannock River flew inland as 140 skippers and crews competed in the 14th Annual Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta. According to gobbler spokesperson Gladys Feathers, reached at her roost in a small wooded area adjacent to the Yankee Point Marina in Lancaster, the birds’ unprecedented action was a direct result of stress. “We’re tired of living in fear” Ms. Feathers is said to have clucked. “And we don’t enjoy having our intelligence questioned.”

Regatta officials, surprised by the vehemence of the bird’s reaction, were at a loss to explain it. “We’re an avian-friendly group” they advised. “And the regatta has always been open to turkeys.” They noted that most participants admired turkeys, did not carry rifles onboard and, in fact, felt a special kinship toward the birds. “We think of turkeys as our friends,” one official noted. “Many of our captains party with them.”

As the controversy raged, regatta officials noted that participation – and fun levels – in this year’s Turkey Shoot had reached an all time high. Bob Fleck in Horizon and Frank Murphy in Last Boat III took the top spots and will have their names added to the prestigious Virginia Spirit Hospice Cup. As winner of the Lightning Division, skipper Fleck from Hardyville, VA, won the right to represent the Turkey Shoot next year at the National Hospice Regatta in Rochester, NY.

School children on Godspeed.

Initially, wind conditions trumped sailing skill and rigging, and more than one skipper had to withdraw from the race and limp back to shore on the first day. Successful captains, happily exhausted but eager to celebrate their survival, reported winds that were “crazy, intense, desperate, unpredictable, even scary – but oh so beautiful.” Officially, wind speed on the first race day ranged from 13 to 20 knots, with higher gusts.

The opening race also tested rescue skills of Yankee Point Marina’s Molly B and her gallant skipper Ken Knull who retrieved Dr. Lee Williams from the water. Dr. Williams tumbled in after successfully dodging the boom onboard his 24 foot Raven sloop Poe Bird. The 84 year-old doctor declined Knull’s offer of a blanket and proceeded to get back onboard Poe Bird and finish the race. (The next day when asked how he was, the now dry doctor quipped that he had put his swimsuit on.) Dr. Williams and his crew went on to prove that perseverance does pay by finishing second in Fleet F.

Vistors on Godspeed

The first-time sailing crew of Frenzy, an all-woman nursing team from Riverside Hospices under skipper Julie Austin of Merrypoint, also proved their mettle by returning to sail on day two after a crew member had succumbed to seasickness on day one. (Medical assistance on this boat was never an issue.) The Frenzy’s crew, Christel Earles, Ann Rubio and Anita White, did a fabulous job of fund raising and added over $3,000 to the regatta’s efforts, making them the top fund raising boat, followed by Jim Charbeneau in Mrs. C, and Charlie Costello in On Eagle’s Wings.

On day two of the race an early brisk wind died suddenly, stranding slower boats far enough away from the finish line to ensure that they couldn’t make it back across in the official time allotted. Emphasizing its power over man and canvas, Madame Wind then winked, smiled and blew harder so that ten boats did manage to finish.

Among these, skipper John Haracivet in Midnight Rider beat out David Alexander in Don’t Be Blue for a very close second place. It’s not known if skipper Alexander was indeed blue, but he shouldn’t have been. Also, it appeared as if Haracivet had the whole city of Gloucester onboard, and at least one Midnight Rider crew member had traded in his baseball cap for a lucky red and white afro wig. Another, possibly the captain himself, clad in bikini-imprinted tee shirt, did a crowd pleasing, half shimmy at the helm while circling the paddle wheeler Vivian Hannah.

Resplendently decked out in red, white and blue, the elegant Ms. Hannah steamed in from her home port of Dahlgren, VA, with owner and captain Stan Palivoda at the wheel. Inside, 26 imported Swarvoski crystal chandeliers sparkled in celebration as the split paddle wheeler transported regatta watchers back in time to the grand old days of steamship travel on the Mississippi. The Vivian Hannah was a joint gift to the spectator community from Captain Palivoda and Karen and Ken Knull, owners of the Yankee Point Marina.

Desparado, a 1953 Hinckley in mint condition, won the Most Beautiful Boat Trophy for skipper Ric Bauer of Fishing Bay Yacht Club. Unfortunately, the Wobbly Compass Trophy, sponsored by the Riverside Health System, could not be awarded because its contenders were among the boats unable to complete the pursuit race in time. (Some had to wobble in via motor.)

The Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta is for classic, monohull sailboats whose design is at least 25 years old. The race is held on the Rappahannock each year in October. It is the major fund raising event for Hospice Support Services of the Northern Neck, Inc., and the Riverside Hospice Agencies of Tappahannock and Gloucester. To register for next year’s Turkey Shoot or to see more race details, go to hospiceturkeyshootregatta.com.–Ellen Dugan, Publicity Chair, Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta

Cupid Bags Two at Turkey Shoot Hospice Regatta

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Never a ship sails out of bay but carries my heart as a stowaway.
Georgia Poet Roselle Mercier Montgomery 
 

      As the warm, gentle breeze of romance replaced racing wind in this year’s pursuit race of the Hospice Turkey Shoot, Cupid took aim and fired at least two well-placed arrows.  One of them hit Linda Meneghini, a former crew member of Helen Quinby’s Avalon II.  The other lodged firmly in the heart of Captain Joe Waters, skipper of Birthday Party. 

      “It was his blue eyes that did it,” said Linda.  As she spoke she threw up her hands in a mock display of surrender to the inevitability and unpredictableness of love, as if to protest that there was truly nothing else a girl could do under the circumstances.

      The circumstances, like race results generally, are somewhat murky.  But apparently the romance was originally kindled by an unfavorable, or at least unprintable, story concerning Joe’s behavior during a previous Turkey Shoot. 

      It’s not known if the Avalon II was actively involved, but since the story’s narrator was Linda’s long time friend and sailing mate, Captain Quinby, one suspects that it was.  In any event it should be noted here that Turkey Shooters, no matter how high or low their PHRF rating, have been known to become seriously aggressive while racing, and occasionally even boisterous.  “It has something to do with their hair color and muscle tone as well as the size of their sails,” according to psychiatrists who study these things.

      Usually the aggression is not serious enough to warrant medical attention according to these experts, and it dissipates completely with a cold beer when the race is over.

      But to get back to Cupid’s mission.  Following the presumably unfavorable story, Linda contacted Joe, perhaps out of curiosity or maybe because she had seen his blue eyes?  We’re not sure of Linda’s motivation, but in this area we must respect her privacy.  Once contact was made, well, what is there left to say?  Like a jib and a mainsail, the couple clicked.  First on the Internet and then in real life. 

      Now the two will be sailing through life together as man and wife, captain and first mate onboard the Birthday Party.  According to Joe, Linda “controls the water.”  And according to Linda, Joe “controls the boat.”  So between them, everything will be under control on their way to Lexington, SC, Joe’s homeport.

      Linda and Joe were married following the conclusion of this year’s Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta at the Yankee Point Sailboat Marina in Lancaster.  Among the guests were friends from South Carolina and Virginia including long time race participant and a previous Turkey Shoot winner, Lee Williams.  Lee, you might remember, is the captain of Poe Bird who fell overboard in last year’s race.  “They duck taped me into the boat this year,” he said.


   
   While Linda and Joe were busy getting married, race officials under committee chair John McConnico, were even busier.  They worked steadily throughout the afternoon and well into the evening, tabulating, double-checking and then re-tabulating race results.  With eyelids held open with toothpicks, they continued working late into the night and well into the next day.  According to one bleary-eyed volunteer, no one had told him that shift work would be involved. 

      But when all was said and done, the results showed that Joe had won this year’s Lightening Division.  He will represent the Turkey Shoot in the National Hospice Regatta.  Skipper Bob Fleck in Horizon placed second, and Aerwana, skippered by Billy McCarty, was third.

      In the Flying Cloud Division Scuba Kat, skippered by Michael Chesser, placed first; Ladybug with Skipper Ned Crocket, second; and Skipper Peter Knight in Salute, third.

      Among long-term rivals, Skipper Wayland Rennie in Trilogy placed first in the Green Fleet less J-24s; and Poe Bird under Skipper Lee Williams won in the Blue Fleet.

      The Hospice TSR is held each year to benefit Hospice Support Services of the Northern Neck, Riverside Hospice Agencies, Inc. of Tappahannock and Walter Reed.  According to TSR committee member Karen Knull all monies raised in the Turkey Shoot go to support services for local hospice clients.  “Funds are raised locally and used locally,” she said.

      For a complete listing of race results, go to turkeyshootregatta.com.  For a report on how Linda and Joe are doing, wait until next year’s regatta.  “We have to come back for our anniversary,” they said. 

Godspeed to Highlight Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta – Oct. 8-10

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“It’s official,” exclaimed Karen Knull at a recent meeting of this year’s Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta Committee.  “The Godspeed is coming!”

Karen, who with husband Ken, runs the Yankee Point Sailboat Marina in Lancaster, has been working tirelessly on getting the famous 17th century sailing replica to visit Lancaster to help celebrate this year’s regatta.  “I’m so excited, I can hardly wait for it to get here,” she told fellow committee members after learning that all her hard work had finally paid off.

Noting that the Godspeed is a re-creation of one of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia, committee chairman John McConnico congratulated Karen on securing the attraction.  “This is wonderful news,” he said.  “A great way for children and spectators to learn more about our history and to actually see what it was like to sail back in the 1600s.”

Karen nodded in agreement, then leafed through her yellow-ruled pad, looking for – and finding – a specific note.  “So far, we’ve scheduled tours onboard the Godspeed for Chesapeake Academy students and for fourth graders from Northumberland and Lancaster,” she smiled.

The Godspeed, along with replicas of the Susan Constant and Discovery, are mainstays of Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia that is located adjacent to Historic Jamestowne and operated by Virginia’s Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.  During race week the Godspeed will sail into the Chesapeake Bay and up the Rappahannock River (second week in October; regatta is Oct. 8, 9 and 10).

The Yankee Point Sailboat Marina in Lancaster will be the Godspeed’s third port in her four-voyage schedule of maritime participation and educational outreach programs this year.

“She won’t actually be competing in the regatta representing 17th century boats,” laughed John, “but a lot of other ‘younger’ boats will be there.”

The Hospice Turkey Shoot is a famously fun regatta that discriminates against new designs and levels the sailing field for old ones.  To participate, a sailboat must be a monohulled.  Technically, the boat itself can be newer than the last twenty-five years, but its design cannot.  There are no specific rules governing how old captains, first mates, and crew can be, or how well designed they are, as long as they’re able to avoid running into each other and can get to the starting line on time.

Traditionally, the race is held during the second Saturday and Sunday in October because that is when the wind gods are most receptive to pleas from becalmed sailors.

A one-of-a-kind delightful event, the Turkey Shoot is the largest regatta on the Southern Bay and the largest Hospice regatta in the nation.  “It’s also a major fund raiser for Hospice services in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula,” said one committee member.

This year will mark the regatta’s fifteenth anniversary.  “We’ve been hosting the Turkey Shoot a long time, and it’s a lot of work,” said Karen.  “But,” she added, “There’s just nothing like it.”

Editor’s Note:  The regatta’s website is:  turkeyshoot.org.  If you would like to sail in the regatta, schedule a Godspeed tour, or make a supporting donation to Hospice via the regatta, you can also contact Karen Knull at 804-462-7018 or Karen@yankeepointmarina.com.  She will answer marina-related questions as well.