“Contraire” team will compete against winners from other hospice regattas around the nation, Canada and the USVI, June 5-7, 2009
After
uncooperative weather conditions canceled the 2008 Hospice Cup racing,
“Contraire” owner Steve Schaub, and co-skippers Curtis Wells and David
Ginsburg, qualified for the Hospice Regattas National Championship to be
held June 5-7, 2009, on Lake Ontario. Hosted by Rochester Yacht Club (RYC),
the championship invites winners of hospice regattas that are members of the
National Hospice Regatta Alliance which support over 50 community hospices
around the U.S., Canada and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This year, 21 teams
will compete for championship honors.
The Hospice Cup trophy, presented by the Annapolis-based annual regatta,
recognizes sustained high performance of an individual skipper racing three
consecutive years, regardless of changed boat, class or partners. The
formula allows for circumstances like last fall’s non-race, allowing the
Contraire team to be qualified based on their performance during the
previous two years. Contraire, registered in the PHRF A3 division, won 1st
place in 2006, and 2nd in 2007.
“While owner Steve Schaub will not be able to attend the 2009 championship
in Rochester, his teammates, Wells and Ginsburg, who have shared duties as
co-skipper in the Hospice Cup race for many years, will be representing the
Contraire team. The race committee determined they qualify to represent
Hospice Cup in the nationals.”states David Hoyt, Commodore of the Shearwater
Sailing Club which hosts the annual race committee.
Held in Annapolis for many years, this is the first time that Rochester
Yacht Club will manage the championship regatta. The championship will be in
Rochester for three years, before moving to other locations in order to
promote the network of hospice regattas in other areas.
Plans for the 2009 Hospice Regattas National Championship call for racing in
12 new Sonar sailboats outfitted with new sails, in a round-robin series
that will maximize time on the water for all teams over the three-day
competition. The Sonar, a 23-ft. one-design keelboat, races competitively
with a skipper and three crew. Each suit of new sails will include a
spinnaker, a main, and a jib small enough to be handled by nearly any size
crew member.
About Hospice Cup
Funds raised on behalf of the
Hospice Cup regatta help to pay the expenses not covered by Medicare or
private insurance. These dollars enable the hospices to provide skilled
compassionate care, comfort and dignity to the terminally ill, their
families and friends, regardless of their ability to pay. Hospice enables
patients to carry on alert, pain-controlled lives so their last days may be
spent in comfort, at home or in home-like settings. Hospice care
concentrates on care, not cure. Bereavement counseling and support groups
are part of hospice services after the loss of a loved one.
The 2009 participating hospices currently include:
Capital Hospice, Calvert
Hospice,
Hospice of the Chesapeake,
Talbot Hospice and Montgomery Hospice.
Each hospice must meet the standards of the National Hospice and Palliative
Care Organization.
About the Hospice Regatta National Championship:
Held annually since 2000, the Hospice Regattas National Championship was
the first sailing championship for charity in the U.S. To promote local
regattas’ efforts to support hospice programs, the event offers three days
of sailboat racing for one winning skipper and crew from every local hospice
regatta that has completed two regattas. Eight of the nine previous
Championships have been conducted in Annapolis, where the original Hospice
Cup event began in 1982. The 2001 Championship was held in Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida, and the National Hospice Regattas Alliance board hopes varying the
Championship location will allow more people to learn about the local
regattas and about hospice.
About the National Hospice Regatta Alliance:
The NHRA is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) association of hospice regattas that
independently raise money and awareness for hospices in their communities.
It supports a rapidly expanding nationwide network of regattas that
publicize Hospice care -- from the East to the West Coast, from the Great
Lakes to Florida. NHRA is an all-volunteer organization helping hospice
regattas grow and learn from each other, and promoting Hospice care
nationally.
Additional information about the event can be found online at the official
Hospice Cup web site www.hospicecup.org.