48th AYC Birthday Regatta and Leukemia Cup

Arizona's biggest sailing event of the year will happen at Lake Pleasant, January 18-20, 2008, the weekend of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

This giant race and party kicks off with the Eventagram Centerboard Challenge Friday, increases in intensity for the Friday night dinner and music, segues into Saturday morning pancake breakfast and captains' meeting before exploding into a regatta with as many as 100 entries, circled by a fleet of spectator boats. To help handle the traffic, we're bringing in Brad Davis of Austin, Texas to serve as the Principal Race Officer. He's a US Sailing National Race Officer and Race Management Instructor. Among other credits, Brad was the PRO at the J/80 Nationals.

When you hit shore after an afternoon of racing, you step into the party of the year: great dinner, bustling bar, and hundreds of people having a good time. The silent and live auctions benefit the Desert Mountain States Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In 2007, this event raised over $78,000 to help fund national research and to serve patients and their families in Arizona and Utah. This year we'll award the Leukemia Cup trophies Saturday night based on your Saturday scores. The Arizona Sailing Foundation (ASF) will benefit from the raffle and an auction for this slick Santana 21 that Leo Baumann has made gorgeous. (Click on it to see a little bigger picture.)

The action continues Sunday with breakfast, morning races, lunch, and awarding of the trophies. Sailors from out of state are able to get on the road that afternoon if they wish (helped on the trip home by the Monday holiday), or they can decide to stay around and enjoy some more of Arizona's delightful winter weather (average January high: 67). It'll be warm this year. Promise.

Expected Classes: Portsmouth, Buccaneer, Catalina 22, J/24, Merit 25, Viper, and PHRF spin and non-spin. Pirates will be limited to the Buccaneer class. Here are the results from the 2007 weekend.

Sign up online (by clicking on the icon above) and avoid the paper! NOTE: We have regatta shirts available only in XL; the rest have been sold.

Entry
Birthday Regatta Notice of Race
Birthday Regatta Sailing Instructions
Chart of Lake Pleasant, Revision "H" (219Kb)

And this year, we'll present a repeat visit of The Eventagram Centerboard Challenge on Friday, January 18. Read more about that regatta-within-a-regatta here.

Eventagram Centerboard Challenge Notice of Race
Eventagram Centerboard Challenge Sailing Instructions

More information about the Birthday Regatta meals

The Birthday Regatta entries so far

Information about the Cruising Fun Run

Fundraising. There are many things you can do to raise money for the 2008 event. To get a fundraising packet, a list of local and national prizes, donate an item for the Saturday evening auction, or learn more about Society programs, please contact Karen Chapman or Cameron Childs at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Phoenix at 602.788.8622, x26. Cameron will arrange to set up a fundraising page like this one for you. Send her your name and contact phone numbers and she'll do the rest. If you raise $1,000 by December 26, you can have your boat name on the LLS event T-shirt. More national Leukemia & Lymphoma Society information is available here and information on the local chapter's efforts here. We're pleased that Fox10 Morning Guy Rick D'Amico will be able to return this year as the auctioneer (while last year's auctioneer Jonathan Elias is now anchoring for WBZ in Boston).

Regatta Shirt: SLAM! The Birthday Regatta shirt this year is the nicest ever offered at the event, a SLAM shirt. You may know SLAM from watching the America’s Cup telecasts this year or spotted their ads in sailing magazines with spokesman Russell Coutts. Besides great style, our Birthday Regatta shirt has all the right technology. It’s a long-sleeved, zip neck shirt made of SLAM’s "Silver Aid" fabric. The soft, comfortable, rugged material has it all: it’s anti-bacterial, antistatic, temperature regulating, quick drying and UV-protected (with over SPF 40 protection). The shirt sells normally for $75, but we’re offering a limited number to the first people who sign up for the Birthday Regatta for just $49.50, complete with AYC burgee logo embroidery. (Click on the SLAM picture to see a bigger view.) Because of demand for the shirt, we now have only XL size still available.

Here's information on Lake Pleasant, where it all happens. It's less than an hour drive from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The lake is about 5.5 by 3 miles in size, surrounded by dazzling desert and set off by 4000-foot-high mountain peaks. Here's how to find it.

Here are some hotels near the lake. Also, Pleasant Harbor Marina is offering slips for $22.51 per night (including tax). Contact the marina office at 602.977.7360.

Questions? Check with event chairman Mike Ferring at 602.241.7123.

Explanation of the weekend format: The Eventagram Centerboard Challenge is a stand-alone event for centerboard boats under 20' LOA. Boats that don't fit into that category are encouraged to sail practice starts and practice races. This event happens Friday with awards given Friday night (by
Emcee Tom Errickson).

The Birthday Regatta takes place both Saturday and Sunday with awards presented Sunday after lunch.

The scores from Saturday's racing will be crunched (by Ace Scorekeeper Dave Christensen) and Saturday night we'll award the Leukemia Cup trophies based on that day's racing. You'll need to enter the Leukemia Cup to be eligible for this and the entire $45 entry is a charitable contribution to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.