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CommunityRacing to raise money
Sailing club holds 2nd Hospice Challenge
Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
Randy Hawschild of Tucson, Ariz., and Kristin Horn, 16, of Lusby get their Flying Junior sailboat ready for the Hospice Challenge on Saturday at the Southern Maryland Sailing Association dock on Solomons Island. The two-day race series, hosted by SMSA, raised money for Calvert Hospice.
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For the second year in a row, the Southern Maryland Sailing Association hosted the Hospice Challenge, where six boating teams sailed around Solomons to raise money for Calvert Hospice, Hospice of St. Mary’s, the Southern Maryland Sailing Foundation and the scholarship fund of the Rotary Club of Prince Frederick.
Started last year by Stovy Brown of St. Leonard, president of the Southern Maryland Sailing Association, the challenge was held to honor those served by hospice.
‘‘We did this for just one day last year and the sailors asked us for more sailing,” Brown said. ‘‘The teams are sponsored by local businesses.”
For two days, six teams consisting of a skipper and three-person crew sailed on the Patuxent River off the northern end of the Solomons Island boardwalk. In a team race, one team sails against another for the best result of the race. The race was a round-robin match where one boat would compete against the rest for the best time.
‘‘At the end of the two days, the team that has the most wins and fewest losses, wins [it all],” Brown said. ‘‘Hospice is always looking for ways to raise money for their worthwhile causes. The scholarship fund for the sailing foundation got together with hospice about four or five years ago looking for a common way of raising funds. They came up with the idea of sailing.”
‘‘Calvert Hospice was interested in getting involved with the different organizations,” said Janel Muir of Lusby, the community outreach coordinator for Calvert Hospice. ‘‘There is nothing like being down in Solomons. The sailing is something new for us.”
Competitors sailed in three Flying Juniors owned by the Southern Maryland Sailing Foundation. The crews were not allowed to modify the boats in any way since the boats had been specified in order to participate in the race.
The racecourse followed an ‘‘N” shape used by intercollegiate sailing and the U.S. Team Racing Association. According to Brown, it allows teams to do their teamwork and participants are sailing for their team. During the event, there was a committee boat, several safety boats and an umpire boat to make sure the teams followed the rules of team racing.
‘‘I am a volunteer on a safety boat,” said Joe Frost of Lusby, a member of the Southern Maryland Sailing Association. ‘‘If any of the boats should capsize, we go out and help them out.”
People from all over came to participate in the event. Some participated just for the fun of being on a sailboat and others because they had been helped by hospice.
‘‘We are members of the club and this is the first time that we are sailing on the Flying Juniors,” said Bill Bacon of Fredericksburg, Va. ‘‘We are looking forward to this.”
Bacon and his friend John Behen often race off of Solomons Island.
‘‘Hospice is a big part of my life,” said Ruth Lambert of Park Hall. ‘‘My husband is a volunteer and my dad was cared for by hospice. Any cause is a good cause for hospice.” Lambert participated in team racing many years ago at the University of Delaware and was on one of the teams.
One of the teams last weekend consisted of junior sailors who wanted to help raise money for the cause.
‘‘The team racing is good practice and hospice is a good cause,” said Emily Bowling, 16, of California, Md. Her teammate was Connor Warren, 16, of Leonardtown.
The Hospice Challenge also hosted a casino night on Aug. 23 in the clubhouse. Fake money was used, so the participants were able to play all night and raise money.
‘‘Next year, we will probably expand the challenge to even more days,” Brown said.
