Welcome to the 2013 Leukemia Cup Regatta
Friday, March 9, 2012 at 07:13PM 
Welcome to the 2013 Leukemia Cup Regatta. This year marks the 21st anniversary of this vitally important event, an event whose mission of finding cures for blood related cancers while improving the quality of life for patients and their families has resulted in major scientific breakthroughs that have lead to the approval of drugs that are considered standard of care today in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.
The origins of the Leukemia Cup can be traced to right here in Annapolis. Beginning twenty years ago, several prominent Annapolis area sailors (among them George Collins, Gary Jobson, Ben Michaelson, Bruce Johnson, Dave Scheidt and Peter Gordon) -- working with the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association, members of the Race Committees of the Eastport Yacht Club, the Annapolis Yacht Club, the Annapolis Maryland Capital Yacht Club and the Rhode River Boat Club and the Maryland Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society -- organized a charity regatta. The regatta, under the stewardship of Annapolis' own Gary Jobson, became not only an annual Annapolis event, but spread throughout the sailing community, eventually leading to 47 annual regattas that now take place throughout the country.
To date over 38 million dollars have been raised. Anything is possible if you are passionate about it, and we hope this year’s Annapolis event will do just that.
This year we are extremely excited about several new elements to the LCR which we learned last year will enhance your experience. We have rolled out our own web site, www.leukemiacupmd.org , which is user friendly and designed to make your involvement with the LCR hassle free. Any question you may have can be found on our web site, and if it doesn’t, we have contact info for those who can. Remember, this unique event combining fundraising with racing. This year we designed the event to offer something for everyone who wants to be on the water. We want to emphasis that teams should be as competitive about their fundraising as they are about how their racing.
Friday, May 31st, we kick off the two day event with our Summer Gala Auction, hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club, from 6:30-9:00 PM. This event will be open to anyone who would like to support the cause. Great food, music, drinks, and an auction will highlight the evening.
Saturday, June 1st is the Leukemia Cup Regatta, hosted by Eastport Yacht Club and Annapolis Yacht Club (please note the new rendezvous time of 10:00 am and a starting time of 11:00am). For the serious sailor looking to improve their High Point standings, this CBYRA sanctioned event will have plenty of competition. We offer over fifteen classes in PHRF and One Design, including newcomers the Herreshoff 12 ½ , 16, and the Harbor 20 (The newcomers will sail on an inside course). For the not so serious sailor, we offer the Leukemia Cruising Class, who will enjoy set government marks as their course. For our kids with cancer, we have the J80 races featuring Gary Jobson as tactician. For the Power Cruiser, who is equally passionate about supporting the cure for cancer as his sailing counterpart, we are offer the Predicted Log Race. Sail and power entrée fees are the same. We encourage everyone to take advantage of our early registration offer of a 10% discount on the entrée fee. For those of you who can not get on the water but would like to make a donation, perhaps in memory of a loved one, we offer the Phantom Boat donation. Name your boat and make a donation, its simple. All registrations (sail & power), donations, and ticket purchases can be found at www.leukemiacupmd.org .
Celebration! That’s what we will all do following the racing on Saturday at the post race Awards Party, hosted by Eastport Yacht Club from 4-7 PM. Plenty of food, cold drinks, dancing, and awards await you and your crew. Prizes for fundraising and racing, including the famous Yellow Cap to the top fundraiser of each class, will be presented. Tickets can be purchased on our web site or at the door.
Remember, the mission at LLS/LCR is to find cures for blood related cancers and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Your donated dollars will go directly to the Maryland chapter of LLS and will help support research, patient financial assistance, and patient education. Thank you for making a difference. Last year the Maryland chapter served over 355 individuals thorughou Patient Navgation Programs and funded over $333,000 in co-pay support to Maryland residents!
John Dodge
2013 Chairman, Leukemia Cup Regatta
Four-year cancer survivor
