THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407130137
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
IT'S BILLED AS a social event - the sixth annual Cock Island sailboat race in the waters off the Portsmouth Seawall.
All for a good time. Nobody really cares who wins.
Says who?
Most of the hundreds who will be competing in Saturday's competition admit their chances of victory in one of the 10 divisions are slim. Maybe even out of sight. But it's the dream of taking home a championship trophy that keeps them coming back year after year.
One of the regulars is James ``Booty'' Baker and his crew aboard Klimax. Another is J. Robert ``Bobby'' Burnell and his team on Lady Katy. And another is Dr. Frank Clare and his Anhinga crew.
These three skippers are among many who have participated in every Cock Island race.
Likely they'll be matching talents in the Cruiser I division.
All have been sailing since they were youngsters. The 65-year-old Baker remembers ``the thrill of getting my first sailboat when I was about 12 years old.''
``I used the money I made from my newspaper route to buy a 16-foot knockabout,'' he recalled.
Baker, who helps select the players in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament each year, purchased his current 39-footer nine years ago. He is among a group of 19 who bought the Portsmouth Yacht Club at the north end of Elm Avenue in Scott's Creek as a dock site for their boats.
``Most certainly the Cock Island race is a fun race for us,'' said Baker. ``We'll have about 10 or 12 on the boat. Generally we have the same five or six every year who do most of the work.''
The regulars include Cliff Savage, Red McDaniel, F. R. Andrews and Cliff Andrews.
``Three years ago, we were third in our division,'' said Baker. ``That's been our top finish. But we always do our very best to win.''
Burnell, 64, nearly had a Cock Island Race win five years ago. ``We were the leader, but we missed a mark and had to backtrack. We finished fourth or fifth,'' he said.
Last year, Burnell's boat placed eighth. He purchased the 34-foot Lady Katy three years ago.
Burnell also started sailing as a 12-year-old.
``A friend and I bought an old boat and pieced it together. And from then on I have had the bug to sail,'' said Burnell.
His 6-to-8 member crew includes four who regularly compete in weekly local races.
``We think about winning,'' added Burnell.
An artist, Burnell takes photographs during the races. He then draws and sells paintings.
Burnell painted the poster for the Cock Island race in 1991. He specializes in marine paintings and many of his works contain water or boats. One of his paintings features a sailboat flanked by high-rise buildings downtown.
Clare, 74, a neurosurgeon, had a fourth-place finish in one previous Cock Island race. He laughingly remembers another year in which his boat was first across the starting line and was cut off by a barge.
``My daughter was videotaping that race. And it shows my boat going one way and all the other boats going the other way.''
Dr. Clare said the 34-foot Anhinga is undergoing repair work, and he's hopeful it will be ready by race time.
This year's Cock Island field exceeds 300, making it one of the largest races in the country. Courses are set of various lengths that are set according to boat sizes.
The contestants race around various markers. Sailing to the wrong mark is just one of the hazards of so many boats competing.
There were 317 in the 1993 field and scoring the race is no small task. There were eight boats with the same sail number last year.
``It does take concentration,'' said Bert Johnson, a retired Navy captain who won the J-24 division in the first Cock Island Race in 1988 and was a first-place finisher again in 1990.
``In 1991, a bunch of us sailed to the wrong mark. When we won in 1990, we got a huge lead but almost gave it away. So this race really does take total concentration.''
More courses have been set up this year, and the co-directors, Jim Hawks and John Ellis, are hopeful of a more staggered finish. The bigger boats have a more distant course, and they are the first off in the race.
``But everyone wants to get back in time for the party,'' laughed Hawks.
Portsmouth Boat Club members assist in operating the race and many serve as bartenders at the after-race social.
Skippers will meet at the Portsmouth Seawall at 8:45 a.m. Competition should begin by 10 a.m.
The awards program recognizing the race winners will be at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Euclid Hanbury Cup will be presented to the overall champion, the skipper winning his class by the largest margin.
Perhaps former race chairman Mo Whitlow, who competes himself, best sums up the general feeling of the participants:
``It's a serious race for the casual sailor and a casual race for the serious sailor.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo on cover by MARK MITCHELL
The crew of the sailboat Klimax line up on deck. They are, from
left: Cliff Gaskins, Cliff Savage, F.R. Andrews, James ``Booty''
Baker and Red McDaniel.
File photo
Sailboats crowd the Elizabeth River for the Cock Island sailboat
race in 1990. More than 300 boats will compete this year.
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
James ``Booty'' Baker scrubs down his sailboat, the Klimax.
by CNB