At the annual regatta last weekend in Annapolis, sailors helped raise more than $200,000.
By SAIL Staff Editors
Annapolis sailors turned out in force last weekend for the annual Hospice Cup regatta, getting in some great racing while helping raise record funding for the area’s nonprofit hospice organizations.
Nearly 90 boats competed, together with sponsors raising more than $200,000, says Hospice Cup Board President Molly Wilmer. It was the most successful event in more than 25 years, with the amount donated and the number of donors at a record high.
“The extent of support from corporate sponsorships, individual donations, and team fundraising gives us hope that we are indeed increasing awareness among the community of the gift of hospice care,” Wilmer says. “The spirit of compassion and competition were aligned side by side this weekend.”
“My father-in-law passed away last fall,” says Jeff Todd of the winning J/22 Hot Toddy. “We are grateful for his hospice care in his last week.” Like many of the other competitors, Todd has been competing in the regatta for decades. “I’ve been participating in the Hospice Cups since Walter Cronkite was a master of ceremonies. It’s a great cause with excellent race management.”
This year’s event stood out for other reasons. As a registered clean regatta, Hospice Cup also boasted status as zero-waste for the first time in its history. Sailing instructions encouraged use of reusable drink containers and collection of any trash found in local waters. The crew of RP45 Katsu took the suggestion to heart, retrieving a 30-gallon plastic drum from the Chesapeake Bay on their way home from the racecourse and proudly hauling it into the awards party where it was recycled for use holding refreshments for thirsty racers.
On-shore sustainability efforts included reusable drinkware and biodegradable dining utensils and dishes. Hospice Cup also awarded fleet winners in first, second, and third place in each class with the Ocean Bottle. The trophies funded the collection of 1,125 pounds of plastic, equivalent to 45,000 plastic water bottles. Volunteers capped off the weekend’s sustainable efforts with a marina cleanup the following morning.
The Sailing Club of the Chesapeake ran the distance race in the Chesapeake and the one-design circle in the Seven River while the Storm Trysail Club led the J/105 course.
Conditions for the regatta were better than forecast, to the delight of sailors like Jim Sagerholm, skipper of the winning PHRF A entry Aunt Jean. “We went hard left hoping the prevailing northerly wouldn’t get overridden by the southerly,” said Sagerholm. The tactic paid off with a strong lead at the first mark of the distance race out in the Chesapeake Bay. Despite a navigation error, Aunt Jean was able to correct over their competition and secure the podium.
In the mouth of the Severn River course, Jeff Todd on Hot Toddy credited his crew Chris Ryan. “Good crew work is always important. The races were very short. You had to get a good start and have a clear lane to the first mark.”
On the southernmost racecourse, Cedric Lewis on the J/105 Mirage credited their success to tactics. “We had good starts and boat speed. We played the shifts up the middle going upwind and looked for additional pressure downind.” Lewis also brought home the Van Metre, Sajak, and Hospice Cup trophies for overall fleet performance, best performance in cruising one-design, and best three-year performance, respectively.
Joe Lombardo on Ingenuity won the Hospice Class. Additional perpetual trophies included the Geri Manning Memorial Trophy awarded to the crew of the Solaris 44 Tradecraft for best team fundraising performance, and the Donnybrook-Brendan Sailing trophy, which went to Dan Laughlin aboard the Hood 32 Karma for most youth sailors on board. Laughlin hosted 12-year-old Brendan Sailing camp alumnus Cameron Wakefield.
This year’s event was sponsored by Lyon Rum, whose owner, Jamie Windon, has a special connection to hospice. A longtime volunteer at Talbot Hospice, Windon sponsored the first-ever blindfolded spinnaker packing contest, which rewarded the fastest competitor with a bottle of the local brand’s celebrated dark rum.
The shore party also featured a live auction of William Sutton’s Chasing Red, which won Hospice Cup’s annual art competition, hosted in the spring with the Maryland Federation of Art.
“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,” says Wilmer. “But we’re very proud that our community can come together to show support at a high level to our partner hospices as they offer compassion, dignity, comfort, and choice to patients at the end of life.”
For more than 40 years, Hospice Cup has supported local care programs for under and uninsured patients with advanced and terminal illness. Partnering with Montgomery & Prince George’s Hospice, Talbot Hospice, Capital Caring, and the Luminis Health Gilchrist Lifecare Institute at Anne Arundel Medical Center, Hospice Cup has raised more than $30 million since the start of the race in 1982.
Hospice Cup is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness and funds for hospice care in our region. For more than 40 years, Hospice Cup has continually supported local care programs in our region, including Montgomery Hospice, Talbot Hospice, Capital Caring Kids, and the Luminis Health Gilchrist Lifecare Institute at Anne Arundel Medical Center. For more information on Hospice Cup, please visit www.hospicecup.org.
