By Joanne Aspinall, Regatta Chair
Decent wind, a good party, and generous people – that, in a nutshell, was this year’s Birthday Regatta for Charity! And based on the numbers as of today, you helped raise just over $31,000.00 for charity! Here’s the breakdown:
- $21,613.00 – Leukemia Lymphoma Society
- $8,436.00 – Phoenix Children’s Hospital
- $657 – Arizona Sailing Foundation
- $297 – ASU Sailing Club
Our top fundraiser was AYC Treasurer Tony Chapman who raised $10,975.00 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Remember, it’s not too late to contribute to one of our great charities. Simply click on the links above for the donation pages.
This year’s Race Committee, led by PRO Mike Ferring, did an incredible job of keeping 11 fleets and 78 boats corralled in over 50 races over three days, using a mix of X courses and a new trapezoid course on Saturday and simple W/L courses on Sunday.
Lake Pleasant cooperated nicely with strong winds in the morning, the normal mid-day siesta, afternoon winds of 5-7 knots, and high temperatures in the 70’s (apparently warm enough for some to go swimming!). As to be expected, not everything went swimmingly; the “Mike-set-bot” faithfully set a start line until it decided it had enough on Sunday; there were some scoring delays; and Race Committee member Don Weaver hit his head on a mast cleat while making an athletic prep flag raise. But overall, lots of smiles were spotted from the weekend of racing. The optional Friday “Race for Charity” raised $925 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Phoenix Children’s Hospital!
View the Saturday and Sunday Race Results here.
Meanwhile, on land, the party factor was turned up a notch this year. Friday evening participants enjoyed amazing food from Don Tacos, music from our very own Steve Dolter and the B-Sides Band, and s’mores by the campfire. Saturday morning breakfast was a big hit again this year, with an amazing assortment of delectables from AYC member chefs Joe and Bonnie Motil.
Saturday morning many of our non-racing friends and family, along with our sponsors Sagebrush Dermatology and Peerless Plumbing, could view the racing action from the comfort of ‘The Phoenix’ cruise boat. A big thank you to Lake Pleasant Cruises for donating the use of the boat and helping us raise $1,700 for charity! DJ Scott Faver from The Party Favers got the party, and the dancing started early on the cruise and then continued the action at Regatta Headquarters. A delicious dinner from Chef John’s catering, drinks served by the lovely tiki bartenders Andi Baker and Kristen Pace, and chair massages provided by This is Bliss Massage preceded the Saturday evening main event – a part live, part silent charity auction that raised over $3,300! The 50/50 raffle also generated a cool $215 for the winner; and $215 for ASU Sailing!
A special note of thanks was also given to long-time members of AYC, Al and Sandy Lehman, who not only have been the face of the Birthday Regatta registration for as long as most of us can remember but have helped at the regatta in various capacities for FORTY YEARS! We love you Al and Sandy!
Miss out on the Saturday charity fun? No worries – the raffle for the Melges 16 is still open; tickets can be purchased at the March general membership meeting, and we’ll draw the winner that night!
Sunday breakfast was grab-and-go, provided by our friends at the Lake Pleasant Sailing Club. A few more races, and then it was time to clean up, store boats, grab a quick hot dog lunch (thank you to the Howe family for providing lunch!), give out awards, and call the 2024 Birthday Regatta another success!
That success is due to the many volunteers and sponsors that make this event happen. If you are interested in being a sponsor or helping on the 2025 Planning Committee (we meet once a month until January, then once a week), please contact us at BirthdayRegatta@arizonayachtclub.org.
VIEW ALL PHOTOS SUBMITTED FROM THE WEEKEND
A huge THANK YOU to the 2024 volunteers (my apologies if I missed anyone):
- BDR Planning Committee (the anything and everything committee; and the “Keep Joanne Sane” committee) – Alexis Tataris, Anders Mintz (shirt design), Bob Naylor, Bruce Andress, Catherine Napoli, Dianna Andress, Eric Bruce, George Sheller, Jessica Zornik, and Olivia Jackman
- Race Committee (without them the regatta doesn’t happen!) – Mike Ferring (PRO), Barry Bond, Steve Brown, Eric Bruce, Brad Buckhout, Bill Feil, Maryellen Ferring, Patrick Gardner, Larry Green, Peter Jeffers, Roger Pawley, Elizabeth Ratterree, Dan Sanders, Joerg Schmidt, Lynn Simzyk, Ron Simzyk, and Don Weaver
- Scorpion Bay Marina for donating a rental boat for use as a 2nd mark set boat
- Awards – Deneen Ramirez for the 1st place cutting boards. Bonnie Motil for etching the 2nd and 3rd place glasses
- King and Queen of Registration – Al and Sandy Lehman
- Howe family for the hot dog lunch on Sunday
- Voted 2024 MVV (Most Valuable Volunteer) – Captain Bob LaBine from The Sailboat Shop
- Our Lovely Tiki Bar – Bartenders: Andi Baker and Kristen Pace. Design and builder: George Sheller
- Photographers – Brad Buckhout, George Sheller, Cat Napoli, Steve Dawson
- Fire Starter – Collin Gibbs
- Ice and food delivery – Jason Van Doren and Katherine Howe
- General Help and Photobomber – Tony and Diane Kozlik
Thank You to our Awesome Sponsors! – Sagebrush Dermatology, Peerless Plumbing, Pleasant Harbor, The Sailboat Shop, KidzSPOT Pediatric Therapy
See y’all next year!!