Children's Clinic Charity Regatta - Celebrating ladies day

by Rich Roberts on 23 Sep 2013 The Notice of Race didn't mention that the annual Yacht Clubs of Long Beach Charity Regatta for The Children's Clinic would also celebrate Ladies Day.

The gentle gender, competing on equal terms with male egos, won three of nine classes presented by the Alamitos Bay and Long Beach yacht clubs, featured by the four Catalina 37s all skippered by women.

Among 42 boats in 10 classes, Lynsie Gibbons of Southwestern YC in San Diego led the four-boat C37 class, normally raced by some of the blokes currently grinding out the days in the America's Cup up north, with two firsts and a second, while ABYC's Jane McNaboe won Senior Sabots and Julia Golison won Junior Sabots.

Go, girls!
In moderate southwest breeze of 6 to 9 knots, Gibbons won the virtually all-female Catalina 37 class on the ocean course while ABYC's Jane McNaboe won Senior Sabots and Julia Golison, 12, won Junior Sabots against mostly guys inside on the bay.

Gibbons said it was planned that way. The other C37 skippers were, in order of finish, Jane Hoffner of Bahia Corinthian YC, Judy Rae Karlsen of LBYC and Kathy St. Amant of the Long Beach Women's Sailing Association. For many, including Gibbons, it was her on-water introduction to the less-than-sleek racers featured in LBYC's annual Congressional Cup match racing classic.

'We're all practicing for the Linda Elias Memorial Regatta [Oct. 18-19] here,' Gibbons, 31, said, referring to the late leading lady of Long Beach sailing who died of cancer in her prime. 'Today was my first time on a Catalina 37. We'd heard they were aircraft carriers.'

She and St. Amant had mostly women in their crews of nine, while Hoffner and Karlsen's teams were all women.

'I definitely surprised myself,' Gibbons said. 'I had a lot of good people on board.'

Gibbons won by three points, but McNaboe had a tighter struggle with veteran Fred Stevens, Paul Anctil and John Ellis---her father---each only one point apart in first through fourth. No big deal, McNaboe said.

'I grew up with it, sailing with my dad. I didn't think about it, really.'

Julia Golison, with a familiar surname in local sailboat racing, won the 12-boat Junior Sabot fleet by two points over Peter Sangmeister, the son of John, who led the Leading Edge catamaran campaign in this summer's Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii.

Meanwhile, LBYC's Ray Godwin won the event's Family Trophy for the third consecutive year with 17 members of his extended breed on board.

The event was hosted by the Alamitos Bay, Long Beach, Seal Beach and Shoreline yacht clubs. Other participating clubs were Little Ships Fleet, Marina YC, Navy YC, Long Beach Singles YC and Blue Gavel District 10.

Races were run inside Alamitos Bay for dinghies and on the ocean inside and outside the breakwater for keelboats.

All entry and sponsorship funds go to the six non-profit 501c (3) licensed community health clinics serving low income, uninsured and underinsured children and their families in the greater Long Beach area.

The Children's Clinic is focused on 'Serving Children and Their Families' (TCC), a cause that has raised more than half a million dollars to aid youngsters over the last quarter-century.

Also, benefits and proceeds from related events, such as a silent auction, swap meet in July and a golf tournament in August, go to the clinic.

The Children's Clinic was organized in 1939 and before the Charity Regatta was formed was well on its way to serving children and adults to age 95.

Jr Sabot C Fleet

Rank	Fleet	SailNo	HelmName	Club	R1	R2	R3	Total	Nett
1st	Jr Sabot C	9939	Julia Golison	Alamitos Bay YC	4	2	1	7	7
2nd	Jr Sabot C	10020	Peter Sangmeister	Long Beach YC	2	3	4	9	9
3rd	Jr Sabot C	8516	Mac Griggs	Long Beach YC	3	1	6	10	10
4th	Jr Sabot C	7604	Christina Van Dyke	ABYC/LBYC	1	5	5	11	11
5th	Jr Sabot C	2442	Kyle Van Lant	Long Beach YC	5	4	2	11	11
6th	Jr Sabot C	9527	Roxy Snyder	Alamitos Bay YC	6	8	3	17	17
7th	Jr Sabot C	9455	Jacob Malonzo	Long Beach YC	9	6	7	22	22
8th	Jr Sabot C	9887	Charley Snyder	Alamitos Bay YC	8	7	10	25	25
9th	Jr Sabot C	10108	William Muelle	Long Beach YC	7	9	9	25	25
10th	Jr Sabot C	4397	Sam Shuart	Alamitos Bay YC	10	10	8	28	28
11th	Jr Sabot C	9766	Paige O'Dell		11	11	13 DNF	35	35
12th	Jr Sabot C	9339	Hannah Hanson	Alamitos Bay YC	12	12	11	35	35

Sr. Sabot Fleet

Rank	Fleet	SailNo	HelmName	Club	R1	R2	R3	Total	Nett
1st	Sr. Sabot	9191	Jane McNaboe	Alamitos Bay YC	1	2	4	7	7
2nd	Sr. Sabot	9494	Fred Stevens	Alamitos Bay YC	2	1	5	8	8
3rd	Sr. Sabot	4664	Paul Anctil	Alamitos Bay YC	3	4	2	9	9
4th	Sr. Sabot	9901	John Ellis	Alamitos Bay YC	4	3	3	10	10
5th	Sr. Sabot	8893	Mary Riddick	Alamitos Bay YC	5	5	1	11	11
6th	Sr. Sabot	7926	Sheila Eberly	Alamitos Bay YC	6	6	6	18	18