All,
I'm not sure if everyone knows at the moment, but the Presidents/Leukemia
Cup in Washington, DC this year is honoring someone who has been actively
involved in the US Albacore Fleet for several years. Bob Bear was recently
diagnosed with and is currently undergoing treatment in Baltimore for
Leukemia. He's has not let Leukemia stop him from sailing this summer and
according to a synopsis of his recent update from Peter Duncan, may actually
win the Albacore Summer Series at West River (see update below my signature)
despite only sailing two days of the series. Yep, he's that good.
As long as I have known him, Bob has always been very active in the Albacore
fleet, sailing in most of the regattas I have attended, and several I
haven't. He's also always been active in the Class leadership and most
recently is the Vice President of the North American fleet, responsible for
organizing our regattas, such as Nationals and North Americans. This year,
there is a regatta for him.
Unfortunately, before many of us in the local fleet knew about Bob, we had
already signed up to do Race Committee. I'm the PRO, Jim Graham and Nathan
Marsh are helping out and Scott Snyder is the Regatta Chair (though he will
still be sailing). This would be a fantastic regatta to show our support
for Bob and even though many of us are doing RC, I'm still convinced there
is a way we show our support. And that's getting as many boats out on the
course as we can.
To that end, I'm offering up use of my boat for the regatta to whomever
makes at least a $100 donation to the Leukemia and Lymphona Society and if
you can do better than that, that's fantastic. There are of course a couple
caveats- email me before you just make a giant donation to the Leukemia and
Lymphona Society. You'll have to at least have skippered in a regatta
before and bring your own sails though we can work around that if that's an
issue. There's a good party afterwards and if you aren't from the area, we
can put you up somewhere. And if you don't mind trailering your boat down
to the Potomac, why not do it? If you haven't sailed in one or two or three
or four years, what better plans do you have for that weekend than dusting
off your boat and put it to use? I'm know Bob would really appreciate
seeing everyone out on the race course. And if you have an Albacore at the
marina, there's really no excuse not to be sailing. See here for more
details and to sign up:
http://potomacriversailing.org/PresidentsLeukemiaCups/2009/
So the big question is, who's in? Let us know! And don't forget to read
about Bob below.
~Mike
*Bob Bear continues his treatment for leukemia which he was diagnosed with
at the end of May. His initial rounds of chemo have been successful, and
while temporarily out of the hospital, he and his Indefatigable teammate,
Kelsey Avrill racked up enough bullets in two weekends of the West River
Albacore Summer Series that they may win it in spite of Bob's return for
further treatment. *
*
*
*As of a
recent report, Bob is in the final stages of being matched with donors
for a bone marrow transplant. He was optimistic that he would have
a match by the middle of August and would undergo the marrow transplant
before the end of the month. This is a risky procedure, but the only one
that can lead to a cure, so Bob is courageously moving forward with the team
at Johns Hopkins who does over 400 marrow transplants a year.*
*
*
*Following the transplant, Bob will have to remain in the hospital for a
lengthy period to recover and rebuild his immune system before he can be out
and about. While recovery will keep him from sailing the rest of the
season, he hopes to make some of the year end festivities and be back in
8095 next season.*
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