43rd annual sailing event raises more than $200,000

By BILL WAGNER | bwagner@capgaznews.com

Roger Mason readily admits he has not been active in Chesapeake Bay sailboat racing over the years. He bought a Solaris 44 last year and put together a crew in consideration of campaigning the vessel.

While the crew agreed to go racing, they decided to focus solely on the three charity regattas held out of Annapolis — Maryland Cures Cancer, CRAB Cup and Hospice Cup.

Mason and most of his fellow sailors about Tradecraft are former government intelligence officers, so they naturally took a very strategic approach to fundraising. They put together slick fliers tailored to each of the three regattas and utilized their various social media platforms to raise awareness.

“We set out to do good for good and tapped our contacts in the intelligence industry,” said Mason, who spent summers in the Bay Ridge community of Annapolis while growing up.

The Tradecraft team took their fundraising efforts to an impressive level for the 43rd annual Hospice Cup, held Sept. 14 on the Chesapeake Bay. They led all participating boats with a whopping $14,600 in donations.

“This charity is easy to sell because hospice touches everyone’s lives. Anyone can relate to this particular charity,” said Mason, an Arlington, Virginia resident who berths Tradecraft at Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard.

Mason’s co-skipper aboard Tradecraft is Kent Island resident Chris Valentino and there are six other members of the crew. Mason said each sailor was personally invested in raising funds, saying “we had 100% buy-in.”

In addition to networking via Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and Instagram, the Tradecraft sailors tapped into their personal contacts by sending direct emails to family and friends.

“One strategy that works pretty well is getting folks to do matching funds,” said Mason, who was presented with the Geri Manning Memorial Trophy as top fundraiser.

Tradecraft was the second-highest fundraising team for the Maryland Cures Cancer Regatta and ranked third for the CRAB Cup. With a total amount raised of almost $35,000, Mason and company are strong contenders to capture the Triple Crown of Charity Sailing trophy.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t do as great on the water,” said Mason, noting that Tradecraft finished last among five entries in CRCA Racer class for the Hospice Cup.

A total of 78 boats in 10 classes competed in the Hospice Cup, which was held in Chamber of Commerce conditions under sunny skies with 78 degree temperatures and 6 to 10 knot northeasterly winds.

Organizers said nearly $200,000 was raised to support four partner organizations — Montgomery & Prince George’s Hospice, Talbot Hospice, Capital Caring and Luminis Health Gilchrist Lifecare Institute at Anne Arundel Medical Center.

The Chesapeake Bay Hospice Cup, which was the country’s original charity regatta and spawned many others, has raised more than $30 million since its inception in 1982.

“The spirit of compassion and competition were aligned side by side this weekend. It was beautiful to see so many boats engage in this beloved charity event,” said Molly Wilmer, president of the Hospice Cup Board of Directors.

“It’s impossible to put a metric on the value and impact hospice care has for so many families with loved ones facing serious and terminal illness.”

While the Tradecraft team was the runaway winner of the fundraising race, many other boats posted impressive numbers as well. Katsu, a Reichel-Pugh 45 led by skipper Jamie Wright, raised $7,255. Blue, a J/88 co-owned by Andrew Guhl, Frank Sheeder and Phil Heldrich, was close behind with $7,175.

Jeff Todd has always participated in the Hospice Cup aboard his J/22 Hot Toddy and is a huge supporter of the cause. However, Todd and his wife Kim, who served on the race committee, are even more passionate after experiencing the benefits of hospice.

Dr. Alan Harquail, a renowned Chesapeake Bay sailor, received hospice care during his final week at Ginger Cove.

“It’s an incredible service to make people comfortable at the end of their lives and we are grateful for what hospice did for my father-in-law,” Todd said.

Todd sailed Hot Toddy doublehanded along with longtime crew mate Chris Ryan and topped the J/22 class on the strength of first place finishes in three of five races. J/22 was joined by the Harbor 20 class on the Area 1 racecourse set at the mouth of the Severn River.

Sailing Club of the Chesapeake provided race management for both Area 1 and Area 2 racing with the latter sailing around government marks on the bay. Jim Sagerholm, skipper of PHRF A winner Aunt Jean, said his strategy was simple.

“We went hard left hoping the prevailing northerly wouldn’t get overridden by the southerly,” said Sagerholm, whose J/35 posted a corrected time of 1 hour, 46 minutes and 54 seconds — just under five minutes ahead of the J/105 Kobayashi Maru.

Officers with the Storm Trysail Club oversaw the southernmost course that consisted solely of the J/105 class. Co-owners Fredrik Salvesen and Cedric Lewis sailed Mirage to victory in the 12-boat fleet, winning two of the three windward-leeward races by a comfortable margin.

This marks the first year since 2011 that Lewis was not a member of the Hospice Cup board, but he and Wilmer still spearheaded a fundraising effort that saw Mirage take in $6,450. Team Mirage has raised nearly $50,000 over the past 14 years.

Mirage cleaned up at the post-race awards party held at Horn Point Marina — taking home the Van Metre Trophy for top overall fleet performance, Sajak Trophy for most outstanding performance in a cruising one-design class and Hospice Cup for best cumulative results over the past three years of the regatta.

Mirage is eligible to represent the Chesapeake Bay at the National Hospice Cup Regatta Alliance Championship.

The shore party also featured a live auction of William Suttong’s Chasing Red, which was winner of the annual art competition hosted in the spring with the Maryland Federation of Art. Lewis was the winning bidder of the painting.

Meredith Glacken, in her first year as executive director of the Hospice Cup, noted the sailing instructions encouraged crew to have reusable drink containers and collect any trash found in local waters.

Wright and his Katsu crew retrieved a 30-gallon plastic drum from the Chesapeake Bay on the way home from the race course and hauled it to the awards party.

Hospice Cup, a registered clean regatta, also boasted status as zero-waste for the first time in its history. Other sustainability efforts included reusable drinkware along with biodegradable dining utensils and dishes at the awards party.

This year’s Hospice Cup was sponsored by Lyon Rum, whose owner, Jamie Windon, is a longtime volunteer with Talbot Hospice. Windon sponsored the inaugural blindfolded spinnaker packing contest, which rewarded the fastest competitor with a bottle of the local brand’s celebrated dark rum.

Glacken and Wilmer pointed out that raising awareness of hospice care is just as important as raising funds. “The extent of support from corporate sponsorships, individual donations and team fundraising gives us hope that we are indeed increasing awareness among the community about the gift of hospice care,” they said.

Hospice Cup Results

J/22 (5 boats)

1, Hot Toddy, Jeff Todd, 2-1-1-3-1=8; 2, Lil’ Puffy, Christopher Wilson, 1-5-2-1-2=11; 3, Bird Hunter, Ben Fransen, 4-2-3-4-3=16

Harbor 20 (8 boats)

1, Yellow Jacket, Scholz/Sullivan Syndicate, 2-1-3-3-2=11; 2, Killer Rabbit, Jon Forst, 3-2-5-1-1=12; 3, Endurance, John Heintz, 1-4-4-2-4=15

Hospice Class (7 boats)

1, Ingenuity, Ranger 28, Joe Lombardo; 2, Valiant, Sabre 36, David Brewer; 3, Curlew, Valiant 37, David Densmore

Cal 25 (5 boats)

1, Fahrvergnugen, Alisa Finney; 2, Arctic Tern, H. Harkenrider; 3, Alice, David Hoyt

CRCA Racer (5 boats)

1, Bay Retriever, J/99, Kevin Sherwood, 1:20:46; 2, Patriot VII, J/109, Patriot Sailing, 1:23:58; 3, Lucky Eights, J/124, Keith Cole, 1:26:19

CRCA Cruiser (3 boats)

1, AnnaMae, Gulfstar 40, Robbie Michaelson, 1:13:20; 2, Jahazi, Bavaria 38, David Dodson, 1:30:49; 3, Querencia II, C&C 35, Kurt Abendschein, 1:31:12

PHRF A (9 boats)

1, Aunt Jean, J/35, James Sagerholm, 1:46:54; 2, Kobayashi Maru, J/105, John Dodge, 1:51:44; 3, Cookie Monster, Salona 380, Stephen Hale, 1:53:15

PHRF B/C (12 boats)

1, Lucky 13, J/24, Samuel Parsons, 1:50:48; 2, Celerity, J/70, Jason & Donna Aulds, 1:52:17; 3, Rosalita, J/29, Tom Lloyd, 1:53:23

PHRF N (12 boats)

1, Orion, Hanse 371, Jon Opert, 1:53:34; 2, Muskrat, J/105, Nicholas Iliff Jr., 1:57:19; 3, Starbird, Tartan 101, Frank Martien, 2:00:21

J/105 (11 boats)

1, Mirage, Cedric Lewis/Fred Salvesen, 1-1-4=6; 2, Good Trade, Peter Bowe, 3-4-1=8; 3, Santas Reign Dear, Donald Santa, 4-3-3=10