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with the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans being the second
oldest club in the U.S, although New Orleans in general
has been making a difficult revival from the effects of
Hurricane Katrina.
Many national one-design sailing classes have been
holding their nationals in the area for decades, including
major multihull classes. Busy racing venues go from
Pensacola west all along the coastal area.
For northern Gulf coast race calendars and more information,
go to the Gulf Yachting Association Web site, at
www.gya.org.
Race Reports
30th Anniversary Bikini Regatta,
Navy Yacht Club of Pensacola, July 24
By Kim Kaminski
Thirty years ago, the Navy Yacht Club came up with a specially
designed race to welcome women to sailboat racing.
Yacht club members Lloyd Stagg and his wife Beverly introduced
a unique idea to the club by presenting a competition
allowing women to be in command of a sailboat during one
of their races in the sailing season. The idea was to encourage
women to take the helm of a sailboat in a race. To
emphasize the female aspect of the event, they decided to
name the race the Bikini Regatta and added the requirement
that half the crew must also be female. Lady sailors have
come a long way since those early days in the first Bikini
Regatta in 1980, and their efforts have been encouraged
every step of the way.
On July 24, the Navy Yacht Club held the 30th Annual
(Pearl Anniversary) Bikini Regatta with 16 boats and four
classes (two Spinnaker, a Non-Spinnaker and a Cruising
class). Nine Spinnaker boats raced a steeplechase 12.3-mile in
Pensacola Bay with the seven boats of the Non-Spinnaker and
Cruising classes competing on a similar 9.93-mile course. The
winds were stiff, blowing at 17 knots out of the east-southeast
throughout the day, providing a challenging contest.
What started out as a small, once-a-year race for
women has now become one of a three-race Ladies Sailing
Trilogy series in the area. The first race, the Fast Women
Regatta was postponed until the fall due to the oil spill.
Consequently, the Bikini Regatta, normally the second race
is now the first race. On August 14, the third race, the Race
for the Roses, sponsored by the Pensacola Beach Yacht Club
was held (too late for the September press deadline).
In honor of the 30th anniversary, the winners of the
First Place in Class and the Overall Fleet awards received a
special handmade sailboat pendant and earned the perpetual
Lloyd and Bev Stagg Cup that honors the founders of
the regatta.
Results (boat, skipper, club, time, award):
Spinnaker A, 12.3 miles, 1, Velvet Elvis, Linda Thompson, PBYC,
1:31:58; 2, Rodent, Terri Swift, PYC, 1:34:18; 3, Coyote, Margo Partain,
PBYC, 1:36:25; 4, Black Ice, Shawn Smith, PBYC, 1:36:45; Spinnaker B,
12.3 miles; 1, Radio Flyer, Laura Melville Witherington, PYC, 1:28:18,
Overall Fleet Winner Bev & Lloyd Stagg Cup; 2, Eve’n Keeled, Jennifer
Grant, FWYC, 1:31:07; 3, Polish Navy, Kim Kaminski, NYC, 1:34:27 All
Female, Best Female Crew Spinnaker Class; 4, Reach Around, K.
Kriegel / E. Hunt, PBYC, 1:36:52 All Female; 5, A Little Wicked, Rachael
Navy Yacht Club Commodore Doug Werber presents the team
from Polish Navy with the award for the Best All Female Crew in
the Spinnaker Class during the 2010 Bikini Regatta award presentation.
The girls wore their “pearls” in honor of the 30th
anniversary of the race. Photo by Kim Kaminski/Bill Geyer.
Gillette, PYC, 1:42:40 All Female; Non-Spinnaker, 9.93 miles; 1, Roka
Dobi, Julie Denton, PYC, 1:22:03, Overall Fleet Winner Bev & Lloyd
Stagg Cup; 2, Shaman, Lisa Williams, NYC, 1:30:19 All Female, Best
Female Crew Non-Spinnaker Class; 3, Coquina, Julie Connerley, PBYC,
1:36:42; 4, Just-Be-N-Me, Be Gobeli, PYC, 1:37:07 All Female; 5, Caddy
Wampus, Linda Curenton, PBYC, 1:46:55 All Female; Cruising, 9.93
miles; 1, Great Adventure, Sharon Stone, NYC, 1:31:16; 2, Windsound,
Stark, NYC, DNF;
Pearl Anniversary Winners:
Best All Female Crew Winners: Spinnaker, Polish Navy, NYC; Non-
Spinnaker, Shaman, NYC; Best Overall Fleet, Bev and Lloyd Stagg
Cup; Spinnaker, Radio Flyer, PYC; Non-Spinnaker, Roka Dobi, PYC.
Pensacola Yacht Club Welcomes
Historic Championship, July 30-Aug. 1
Strammer and Schuurmans Claim
US Singlehanded Titles
By Julie B. Connerley
2010 Men’s Division Champion Fred Strammer, US SAILING
Singlehanded Sailing Chair Martine Rawlings Zurinskas and 2010
Womens Division Champion, Leonie Schuurmans. Photo by Julie B.
Connerley.
More than two years ago, Pensacola Yacht Club submitted a
bid to host US SAILING’S Singlehanded Championship
(USSC). Little did PYC realize that its timing would coincide
with a historic decision made by the US Singlehanded
Committee in late 2009, the inclusion of a new division for
women 16 or older.
Prior to John Marvin’s bronze medal in the 1956
News & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS September 2010 63