King Harbor Yacht Club
Over three dozen sailboats competed in the 33rd Annual Tom Collier Memorial Sailboat Regatta on Saturday, July 12.
Collier was a competitive sailor from the King Harbor Yacht Club. He passed away from cancer, at age 31, in 1991. His fellow sailors established the annual “pursuit” race to honor his memory and to support cancer research.
In a “pursuit race”’ the slowest boats start first, and the fastest boats start last. During this year’s race, the fastest boat started an hour after the slowest boat. At the finish, the lead boats were tightly packed, finishing within three to four seconds of each other.
“Pressure,” a Melges-15, skippered by KHYC coach Roger O’Connor and crewed by Alexa Cavalieri took first despite being only 15-feet long. Their names will be added to the Tom Collier Memorial Perpetual Trophy, which features a bronze dolphin sculpted by Wyland, the renowned artist who also painted the whale mural on the former AES power plant across the street from King Harbor.
The race start and finish were viewable from the King Harbor Yacht Club deck. The final downwind leg, when the boats fly their large, colorful spinnakers, heads straight at the clubhouse.
Spectators were also able to view the RC Model Yacht Fleet regatta held Friday, July 11, in King Harbor’s Main channel.
This year’s regatta raised $28,000, bringing the total raised to over $850,000 for cancer research led by Leo Mascarenhas, M.D., Director of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and the Sarcoma Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Partial results (for full results visit :tomcollierregatta.org
1st Roger O’Connor ‘Pressure’
2nd Jim Haskell ‘Mandy K’
3rd Parlette/Walden ‘Hot Rum’
4th Tom Priest ‘Miss Behavin’
5th Burr Hope (1st Cal20) ‘Déjà Vu’
1st PHRF A Derick Prelle ‘Tigger’
2nd Cal 20 Ray McVey ‘Wave Dancer’
1st Cruiser Scott Haisman ‘Soul Shine’
1st PSSA Jerome Sammarcelli ‘Sam’
1st Multihull Steve Fechner ‘Nacra 17’
1st Female Carolyn Ziel ‘Aloha’
1st Junior Palmer Mays ‘Gaucho’
