Sailing Association

On April 16, 2003, WILLIAM F. RIGHTOR III, survived by his wife of 34 years, Leah Duer Rightor, his daughter Patricia Walton and her husband Thomas, grandson Sean Hough and his wife Cheryl and great-grandsons, Tyler and Colby. Mr. Rightor was born in Catonsville, MD, but lived his early school years in Indiana. After returning to MD, where he worked in the heavy construction field, he spent his free time flying planes, racing cars and sailboats. He was a lifetime member of Potapskut Sailing Association on the Magothy River, where he and his wife have lived for many years.

Hot pink ribbon-like patches sprouted Monday on life vests at the Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis as junior sailors prepared for practice, bright remembrances of the 14-year-old student who died last week in an accident during practice. Friends of Olivia Constants made dozens of patches, decorating them with fabric paint and marker to note her dates of birth and death. The club's junior sailing program, where Olivia was in the top level for junior racers using the Club 420 sailboat, will be closed Tuesday for Olivia's funeral.

More than 80 racing sailboats ranging in length from 22 to 45 feet are expected to rendezvous this morning off the mouth of Middle River for the beginning of the fourth annual Northern Bay Race Week, one of the premier sailing events held in the Baltimore region each year.The regatta hosts are Columbia Sailing Association, Glenmar Sailing Association and Havre de Grace Yacht Club.The regatta will consist of three races, one each day through Sunday starting about 11:30 a.m., for four PHRF (Performance Handicap Racing Fleet)

Ralph Reitan turned a 33-foot "junk" sailboat into a sleek and speedy vessel, and he became a familiar face at the Wednesday night races on the Magothy River. The 59-year-old computer scientist was on the water for last week's competition, when, during the first leg, the weather suddenly turned. The winds kicked up - some say as high as 45 knots - and the waves became choppy amid a light rain. Fellow racer Joe Lombardo, trailing Reitan, headed to shore. "We waited for a lot of boats to come back after the race," Lombardo said.

Hurrah, hurrah, it's the first of . . . well, anyway, the annual madness of Wednesday night racing is starting up again in a week or two.Granddaddy of them all, the Annapolis Yacht Club's Wednesday Night Series starts up April 29, while up on the Magothy the Wednesday Night Series co-sponsored by the Magothy River Sailing Association, theCape St. Claire Yacht Club, the Gibson Island Yacht Squadron, and the Potapskut Sailing Association gets under way earlier,...

The first spring breezes are blowing, and hopefully the last of the snow is behind us, so it's time to think about summer sailing programs for kids.Some young sailors already are on the water, in Annapolis Yacht Club's and Severn Sailing Association's after-school programs for teens, but for youngsters 6-17, there are plenty of options for summer fun, sail training and safety education. The entry deadline for the club programs already is upon us.The first step for any parents interested in a summer junior program is to talk with the junior sailing representative from their yacht club, or to contact other parents whose children have taken part in junior programs.

In a few days, the sailboat racing season will begin in earnest, despite the fact that the first officially sanctioned High Point events are still two weeks away.The popular sport of weeknight racing, a preoccupation from spring to fall in this area, is back for another year.Weeknight racing gives sailors a chance to enjoy racing in a relatively relaxed atmosphere, to tune up for more serious weekend competition, or just to take a break in the work week and have some fun.Weeknight series, most of which are on Wednesdays, can be found from the Patapsco to the West River, and each has its own style and substance.

With or without Mother Nature's astounding and terrifying pyrotechnics last Sunday, the fourth annual Northern Bay Race Week was a brilliant victory for Shady Side sailor Paul Parks and his team on his J/35Sundog.The three-day contest was staged off the mouth of Middle River for a fleet of nearly 80 boats sailing in five classes.Sailing with Parks and his wife, Cathy, to a perfect all-ace record through a wide range of conditions were Tim Mangus, Tee Thieler, Rob Simkins, Scott Haerbig, Bob Cornelius, Mark Goode and George Barnes.

J. Hambleton "Ham" Palmer, a retired consulting engineer who played a key role in the fair running of yacht races across the Chesapeake Bay, died of kidney failure Thursday at Ginger Cove retirement community in Annapolis. He was 90. Yachting was Mr. Palmer's lifelong love. Besides sailing in his 25-foot yacht Half Hitch, he also measured boats for races, handicapped the vessels and judged their competitions for various local boating groups and the U.S. Sailing Association. Mr. Palmer, who had lived in Pasadena and Severna Park, helped introduce racing rules to sailing competitions on the Chesapeake Bay. "He was instrumental in guiding sailboat racing in Maryland," said William D. Paul, who founded the Magothy River Sailing Association with Mr. Palmer in 1974 and later followed him as president of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association.

St. Mary's College of Maryland, defending its reputation as one of the nation's best sailing programs, finished second behind Harvard yesterday in the abbreviated spring Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association team race competition on Detroit's Lake St. Clair. Top-ranked St. Mary's, Harvard, Hobart and Southern California advanced to the final four yesterday, but lack of wind prevented the completion of the event at Crescent Sail Yacht Club. Harvard was declared the winner of the three-day event and the Walter C. Wood Trophy based on the results through the round of eight.

The scene at Linstead Pier in Severna Park on Wednesday night looked more like a family reunion or pizza party than a yacht club. Maybe it was the comfortable banter between the 50 or so sailors, or the fact that they were standing on a poorly lit dock, not in a clubhouse. Or maybe it was the stack of pizza boxes piled up in a corner. While the casualness might not appeal to everyone, an evening of boat racing and take-out dinner is exactly the type of event that members of the Round Bay Sailing Association relish.

If you compete in serious - or even semiserious - sailboat racing on the Chesapeake Bay, chances are you've been exposed to the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association. The group is in charge of racing and runs regattas, establishes rules and puts on various clinics for Bay racers. We talked to Angelo Buscemi, 40, of Washington, who recently became the group's new president, about its role: What is CBYRA, and who belongs? We're the local governing body for the sport of sailboat racing for the Chesapeake Bay area.

J. Hambleton "Ham" Palmer, a retired consulting engineer who played a key role in the fair running of yacht races across the Chesapeake Bay, died of kidney failure Thursday at Ginger Cove retirement community in Annapolis. He was 90. Yachting was Mr. Palmer's lifelong love. Besides sailing in his 25-foot yacht Half Hitch, he also measured boats for races, handicapped the vessels and judged their competitions for various local boating groups and the U.S. Sailing Association. Mr. Palmer, who had lived in Pasadena and Severna Park, helped introduce racing rules to sailing competitions on the Chesapeake Bay. "He was instrumental in guiding sailboat racing in Maryland," said William D. Paul, who founded the Magothy River Sailing Association with Mr. Palmer in 1974 and later followed him as president of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association.

St. Mary's College of Maryland, defending its reputation as one of the nation's best sailing programs, finished second behind Harvard yesterday in the abbreviated spring Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association team race competition on Detroit's Lake St. Clair. Top-ranked St. Mary's, Harvard, Hobart and Southern California advanced to the final four yesterday, but lack of wind prevented the completion of the event at Crescent Sail Yacht Club. Harvard was declared the winner of the three-day event and the Walter C. Wood Trophy based on the results through the round of eight.

On April 16, 2003, WILLIAM F. RIGHTOR III, survived by his wife of 34 years, Leah Duer Rightor, his daughter Patricia Walton and her husband Thomas, grandson Sean Hough and his wife Cheryl and great-grandsons, Tyler and Colby. Mr. Rightor was born in Catonsville, MD, but lived his early school years in Indiana. After returning to MD, where he worked in the heavy construction field, he spent his free time flying planes, racing cars and sailboats. He was a lifetime member of Potapskut Sailing Association on the Magothy River, where he and his wife have lived for many years.

This is not Cornelius Vanderbilt's yacht club. Or Ted Turner's, for that matter. No nautical-themed cocktail lounge. No valet parking. No commodore's dinner dances. Truth be told, the Downtown Sailing Center is the anti-yacht club, where activities center on two docks and the open-sided pavilion behind the Baltimore Museum of Industry. "It's not fancy. It's back to the essence," says member Matthew Sturr, who's been coming for 10 years. "There's no airs." That's not to say these sailors don't like a hard-fought regatta or wrapping their hands around a cold one. Many evenings, spring through fall, there's a fleet of boats dueling in the Inner Harbor.

The scene at Linstead Pier in Severna Park on Wednesday night looked more like a family reunion or pizza party than a yacht club. Maybe it was the comfortable banter between the 50 or so sailors, or the fact that they were standing on a poorly lit dock, not in a clubhouse. Or maybe it was the stack of pizza boxes piled up in a corner. While the casualness might not appeal to everyone, an evening of boat racing and take-out dinner is exactly the type of event that members of the Round Bay Sailing Association relish.

After numerous failed attempts to build his 13-year-old son's confidence and self-esteem through football and baseball, James Muldoon noticed something.Jimmy, who was severely learning disabled because of complications during birth, had mastered the art of sailing with little effort.Right lesson, wrong methods."Poor Jimmy got a baseball in the lip a couple times before I was smart enough to realize that he didn't see the ball coming fast enough," said Muldoon, 57, an avid sailor and vice president of the United States Sailing Association.

Veteran sail-maker Ched Proctor won the North American Lightning-class championship off Annapolis yesterday after a week-long Chesapeake Bay regatta that brought both sail-tearing winds and race-cancelling calms. "It was pretty crazy," said Proctor, who sails with the Cedar Point Yacht Club out of Westport, Conn. "This time of year, it's always tricky on the bay." Six of the 19-foot boats were holed in collisions in high winds and waves, two so badly that they were withdrawn. Several lost sails, and many capsized before the weather calmed down.

Sometimes getting away from it all can mean not going very far at all. Sometimes it just takes the deep, blue waters of the Chesapeake Bay and a light breeze to whisk you away both mentally and physically.The sport to do just that is called sailing and, just in case it never occurred to you, the Baltimore area is supremely located for you to learn all about it.The area is home to numerous businesses and organizations that offer sailing lessons, including the Annapolis Sailing School, Chesapeake Sailing School, Severn Sailing Association, the Annapolis Yacht Club, all in Annapolis, and Womanship, a sailing school for women, also in Annapolis.