Sailors race in 30th Tom Collier Memorial “Cure Cancer Cup” regatta
by Garth Meyer
The 30th running of the Tom Collier Memorial “Cure Cancer Cup” sailboat race July 9 raised more than $50,000 for a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center research lab.
A total of 34 boats, from 14 feet to 50 feet, competed in the 10-mile pursuit race just off of King Harbor.
Within this format, the slowest vessels by type start first, and the fastest one hour later. First to cross the finish line wins.
For 2022, it was Curt Johnson, of Marina Del Rey, at the helm of “Avet,” a 26-foot monohull keelboat (sailboat). Len Abbeduto, of Redondo Beach, took second in the 24-foot “Another Bad Wolf;” and Jerome Samarcelli, of Marina Del Rey, took third in “Sam,” a 32-foot carbon fiber sailboat.
In the cruiser division, Mike Devine of Redondo Beach took first in the 26-foot “Meimi II.”
Bur Hope, of Redondo Beach, won the Cal 20 Division (20-foot monohulls), and Daniel Belton of Redondo Beach, was first for multihulls (catamaran), after the two catamarans leading the race both missed buoys.
The first woman skipper to finish was Julie Coll, in a 24-foot monohull.
Tom Collier was a Redondo Beach sailor who died of cancer at age 31. The regatta has raised more than $700,000 for cancer research, specifically a laboratory at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.
Money is raised by race entry fees, a silent and live auction, cash donations and more. ER