At the beginning of the 2022 Racing Season Richard Hinds (the owner of J105 Break Away) said "there is a Women's Regatta on the schedule this year and I have you in mind to skipper". What a pleasant surprise this was to me! I had never skippered the J105 in a race, nor had I much time behind the wheel. During the April pre-season practice I did have time on the helm.
The race was sponsored by the Sailing Club of the Chesapeake. Utilizing our regular Break Away crew list we assembled a crew of 4 women (including me) and two men. Richard was onfi main, Dale Conklin on bow, Kathy Brinsfield on jib, Terri Sawyer on pit, and Mary-Sophia Smith on spin trim. We did get two practice sessions in and even brought a pin mark out and set up a start for ourselves so we could do some practice races (even though we didn't have anyone out there to practice against)! We had a lot of fun despite some mishaps and yet got better as we went along.
The winds were 8-10 on race day and we had three races. The R.C. did an excellent job. We got two great starts and one late start. Fortunately we beat one boat in one of the races and overall I was very pleased with our performance since it was only my fourth day on the helm of a J105. This was the first year they had the regatta and thanks to Molly Hughes Wilmer and the regatta team she put together it was truly a great event.
Break Away Women’s Regatta Team