THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407080269
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
THE SEVENTH ANNUAL Cock Island sailboat competition gets under way Saturday with the largest fleet yet battling it out for possession of the Euclid Hanbury Cup.
Entries closed on Friday and are now being processed. Last year's record field of 317 is expected to be surpassed.
Skippers will meet at the Portsmouth Seawall at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and racing will begin about 9:30 a.m.
The Hanbury Cup, named in honor of a 91-year-old longtime Portsmouth sailor who taught many of the present participants how to sail, is awarded each year to the skipper who wins his class by the most corrected time.
Sonny Smith of Virginia Beach was the 1993 winner. Smith, a Norfolk native, won the PHRF (Performance Handicap Rating Formula) class aboard his Restless IV, a Beneteau 42.
The Hanbury Cup is yet to be won by a hometown entry.
Sledd Shelhouse of Virginia Beach was the first winner in 1988. James Diggs of Poquoson and Dave Hamilton of Hampton won in 1989. The 1990 winner was W. F. Oliver III of Virginia Beach. Dick Lane of Tabb won in 1991. The 1992 recipient was Neil Garrett Jr. of Poquoson. Diggs and Hamilton co-own a 26-foot sloop.
There will be competition in all PHRF and cruising classes and in two non-spinaker classes.
Courtesy rating will be assigned by the race committee and will not be subject to challenge.
The race is sanctioned by the Cruising Club of Virginia.
For the second year Jim Hawks and John Ellis are serving as co-chairmen.
``In the past we've accepted entries right up until race day but we had to enforce a July 8 deadline this year,'' said Hawks. ``I hope we didn't offend some of the stragglers who always wait until the last minute to enter. But it's getting to be a logistics nightmare. Trying to score 317 boats, which we had last year, is enough of a task.''
This year the directors set up more courses, hopefully to get a more staggered finish. The bigger boats have a more distant course and they are the first off in the race.
Specific courses and classes will be posted Friday evening at Portside.
The Cock Island Race, the largest yacht race in the state and one of the nation's biggest, starts off Portside at the Intracoastal Waterway's Mile Post Zero on the Elizabeth River.
The finish line is between the Dominion Tower on the Norfolk side and the Portsmouth seawall. An awards ceremony will be held at the water stage at Portside at 8 p.m.
Festivities will start on Friday at 4 p.m. with a performance by No Small Feet on the water stage. There will be a street dance with Erniue LeBVeau and the Beach Blasters from 7 until 10 p.m.
On Saturday from 4 until 7 p.m. Dramtreeo, a group that does sailing and whaling songs, will be on the water stage. Bill Deal and Fat Ammon will perform at 7 p.m. and after the awards ceremony.
The steering committee for the race this year includes Steve Jackson, Barbara Besely, David Eberwine, Jimmy Rogerson, Katherine Mason, Cathy Butler, Clyde Winters, Jack Backus, Bruce Robinett and Laura Staylor. Robinett is handling skippers' registration and Winters heads the race committee.
Viewing the start and finish of the race from the Portsmouth seawall is free and open to the public. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
In earlier Cock Island Sailboat Race, Goblin's Kiss, Southerly and
Renegade cross the starting line in the competition.
by CNB