Fellow Sailors, 

If the definition of a good regatta is fair wind and fair competition in a well organized event, then Saturday's Leukemia Cup Regatta hosted by the Savannah Yacht Club was a good regatta. If you add to this that the regatta raises funds for a worthwhile cause, then this was a GREAT event. The Landings Rhodes 19 Sailing Club had four boats entered in the competition, held at the north end of Skidaway/Modena Island in the Skidaway River, and it was close sailing in each of the five races.

 Leading the fleet with three first place finishes was Yankee, with Jake Master, Randy Nord and Alan Nicol. With one exception, their sailing was flawless (see below). Close behind was Bearboat with Dave Angell, Louise Herrick and Bob Smith. Third was Sinbad, with Joe Witten, Grace Palmer and Marty Vernick, followed by Dorothy's Slipper with John McBay, Scott McGlynn and Anne Lyon. 

Savannah's weather was incredibly good, the best we have seen in our four participations in this regatta. Breezes varied from 5 to 15 knots, with sudden direction changes, so both skipper and crew had to be alert and react quickly. There were several position changes in the course of most races and tight roundings at almost every mark. My personal favorite occurred in the fifth race. The course was a windward, leeward loop, twice around, finishing on a windward leg. As we approached the downwind mark the second time, spinnakers flying, Yankee and Bearboat were neck and neck, about two boat lengths ahead of Sinbad. While they fussed with one another, Sinbad was able to gain some ground and draw closer as we approached the mark. Bearboat and Sinbad got the spinnaker down cleanly and headed upwind, but Yankee's spinnaker landed overboard and stopped the boat dead. Now it was a two boat race to the finish, with Bearboat ahead. As we neared the finish line the crew on Sinbad watched in amazement as Bearboat sailed on the wrong side of the committee boat....they forgot that they were already on the second loop and they needn't go around again. By the time they realized their mistake and reversed course Sinbad had crossed the line. The totally unexpected result of rocketing from third to first was a great rush and we whooped and hollered and high fived each other. What made it even more special was that after four years of sailing with Joe Witten and me in this event this was the first race that Grace was at the tiller from start to finish! Way to go Grace! 

Also worthy of note was Chris Pendleton, the grandson of Mike and Debbie Rouzee, and a recent Landings resident. Chris raced in the Optimist fleet and sailed well. 

Now as I've told you before, the actual race results as reported above are adjusted so that each boat's performance is improved in proportion to the contributions attributed to that boat. Landings resident, Grace Palmer has always been our top fund raiser, thanks largely to her uncle who is on the board of the Vain and Harry Fish Foundation. Their $15,000 contribution along with the others that Grace brought made her the top Junior fund raiser, and the second overall. It also catapulted Sinbad into first place. Landings resident Chris Pendleton also placed first on corrected time in the Opti fleet. What really matters here is that a disease that was once a virtually automatic death sentence is now highly manageable and the $18,000 contributed by The Landings fleet, as part of the $100,000 total for the Regatta, will help increase the recovery rate even more. 

I'd like to thank all the racers who represented The Landings on Skidaway Island and all the friends and relatives who supported them by their contributions. It's a privilege to represent this community when we can exhibit such good sportsmanship and generosity. 

We sail again this Sunday, 9/28. Send me a note, get on a boat.

Marty