A Fun Race is scheduled for Sunday, August 12.  But this ain’t yer usual race where the first boat to cross the finish line wins.  Nope.  This one is totally different.  It doesn’t matter who comes in first.  What matters is that you participate and follow a few rather unconventional rules.  And since Sailin’ Sisters is running the Committee Boat, we get to make them up!

The whole point is to get folks out there on the water having a grand time!

Here are a few of the rules:

• First and foremost is that Sailin’ Sisters is in charge and, like all women, we reserve the right to change our minds at any point and for no good reason at all.
• Bribing the Race Committee is not only allowed, it is expected.
• Dress up yourselves and your boats for the craziest Fun Race ever!
• Be prepared to get wet since the Race Committee will be armed with squirt guns and who knows what else!  (You will want some sort of defense or attack weapons yourself.)
• On the upwind mark, you must grab a “pennant” from the race mark.  (No penalty turns for touching this mark.)
• On each leg, every vessel must perform a 360 degree turn.
• Monohulls that normally participate in the series races must start 5 minutes behind those who don’t normally race and multihulls start 10 minutes after the first start.  This should remove the fear factor on the start line for the inexperienced racers.
• Each lap around the racecourse, you must successfully toss at least one drink of your choice to the Race Committee (preferably one that floats.)
• You earn a placement number as you cross the finish line with your pennant.  Once everyone is finished, a random number will be drawn by the Race Committee.  The vessel with the matching placement number wins!!!  So you see, speed isn’t the determining factor.  Participation is!
• A “fabulous” prize will be awarded during the raft up immediately following the race.  (Bring lots of lines and fenders and remember to keep those spreaders offset!)
• Plan to party and swim the afternoon away!  Bring some extra snacks and drinks to share!
• Most importantly, display good seamanship!  Be a good sport and don’t get wrapped up in the rules or we’ll send you home and tell your mama.

We’ll have a skippers meeting at 10 a.m. and the first start will be whenever we get around to it.  (Told you we get to make up the rules!)

Questions?  Contact Terri Tilford, Shelley Smith or Joan Allen.  We’ll make up some random answer.

What an incredibly fun weekend we had at the Weatherby Regatta!  She Worthy finally got a wet bottom last Thursday afternoon at Lake Weatherby as we held our breath, crossed our fingers and said prayers that she would actually float.  That she did and with no leaks either!  After nestling into her slip and a bit of tuning on her rigging, we couldn’t wait to see her sail.  We slipped the docklines, drifted back and set sail on a very easy shakedown in light winds.  For safety’s sake, we took along Michelle Stevenson who normally helms Killin’ Time and Paul Fetterman of Grendel for a bit of Santana and lake specific knowledge.  It was smiles all around and only the coming darkness forced us back to the slip.

Throughout the weekend all the folks from Weatherby and from the Santana 20 group in general could not have been more helpful, friendly and supportive.  Huge thanks to Commodore Paul Stevenson and Rear Commodore Paul Fetterman who were so accommodating, lending a hand at every turn, and parts and advice when we needed it.  The whole Santana 20 group was so friendly, it definitely confirmed that this boat was the right choice for the women’s sailing program at PYC.

Even though none of us had sailed before as a team, we didn’t know the boat, and we were still adding hardware only minutes before the first race, Amy Wilson did us proud at the helm.  Amy lead the team of Shelly Smith, Terri Tilford, Charlene Howard and me (left to right in photo above) to an incredibly good showing for our first time out.  During one of the races, we placed 4th out of 10 Santana 20s and came in 18th out of 29 boats overall!

Conditions were quite challenging at Weatherby Lake with its small size, gusty winds and lots of boats to dodge during the regatta.  If you thought Perry Lake has shifty winds, try sailing at Weatherby.  I’ll never complain about Perry again!

Everyone attending the regatta seemed genuinely happy that we were there.  Many of the ladies were interested in the Sailin’ Sisters seminars over the winter months, and lots of sailors relayed how wonderful it was that Perry Yacht Club has a dedicated women’s sailing program.  I simply could not be more pleased with how the entire weekend went, how the boat performed, and the camaraderie we shared amongst our team and entire sailing community.  A huge thanks to Perry Yacht Club for making this all possible!

This weekend, Team She Worthy sails again in the Leukemia Cup Regatta and we’d love to have your support.  If you’d like to donate please go to our Leukemia Cup webpage to contribute your tax deductible donation to support finding a cure for killer blood diseases.  Then sit back and watch our little pink aft cross the finish line!