THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510180138
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
DAVID W. BOUCHARD, a Hampton Roads lawyer who is also an experienced sailor and avid racer, was among the first boat owners to sign up for the region's newest regatta, the Hospice Regatta of Greater Hampton Roads.
The race, sponsored by the Hampton Yacht Club, takes place Saturday in the Chesapeake Bay, off Hampton. It will benefit seven nonprofit hospices, volunteer organizations that help the terminally ill and their families cope with physical, emotional and practical problems related to their illnesses.
Regatta officials expect at least 50 sailboats, carrying crews of up to 14 sailors.
Bouchard lives in Suffolk and practices from his office in the Western Branch area of Chesapeake. He moors his Santana 35, a racing sloop, in Hampton Creek. For the past four years, he has been an active member of the racing community.
The coordination, discipline and teamwork vital to a sailing race intrigue Bouchard.
``There we are with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of boats, juggling for position, coming within inches of each other,'' he said. ``We may throw ourselves into peril when we race, but we rely on teamwork to do the right thing and accomplish something beautiful.''
Both hospice volunteers and racing crews must become proficient in teamwork and in meeting the challenges of constantly changing and frequently unpredictable circumstances.
``There is, among racers, a matter of honor and dignity that exists where the rules of the road must be followed, and the racing gets intense,'' Bouchard said. ``But wonderful and exciting as that is, it pales in comparison with what the hospice organizations do.''
The regatta was organized this year by Virginia Brown, a Northern Neck resident who worked with the Hospice Cup, a successful fundraiser for hospice organizations.
Hospice Volunteers of the Portsmouth Area; Edmarc Hospice for Children, also based in Portsmouth; and Full Circle AIDS Hospice Support will benefit from regatta proceeds. Other hospices to receive funds include Riverside Hospice, Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, Hospice Care of the Eastern Shore and Hospice Support Care of Williamsburg.
A tall, bronze sculpture of dolphins and a sea turtle, donated by artist David H. Turner of Onley, will become the perpetual overall winner's trophy and will be on permanent display at the Hampton Yacht Club.
The sculpture is a working prototype of a large outdoor sculpture Turner created for the new dolphin house at the Chicago Zoo. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Lawyer David Bouchard has signed up to race in the Hospice Regatta
of Greater Hampton Roads. The race, scheduled for Saturday in the
Chesapeake Bay off Hampton, will benefit seven nonprofit hospices.
by CNB