THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610080161
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 65 lines
The crew members of the 25-foot sailing boat, About Time, don't need a good reason to spend a Saturday racing other boats on the Chesapeake Bay.
But when they have one, it makes the ride all the more sweet.
On Saturday, the crew of five men and one 12-year-old girl will compete in the second annual Hospice Regatta of Greater Hampton Roads. Based at the Hampton Yacht Club, the race benefits seven area hospices, including the Norfolk-based Full Circle AIDS Hospice Support. Last year, the race generated some $28,000 in proceeds for the organizations.
About 40 boats are expected to participate this year. About Time, which docks at Willoughby Harbor Marina, will compete for the second year.
``The cause is kind of special,'' said Robert Archer, the boat's skipper. ``Part of the reason we're doing this is because it's a good cause. But we're racers. We're doing this mainly because it's a very competitive race.
``We've raced all summer, and this is probably our last race for the year. We didn't do well last year ... and we probably won't do well this year. It's not really our conditions. But we have a lot of fun, and we're learning more each time we go out.''
Racing competitively has become almost like a second occupation for Archer and his crew. The chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Archer had spent his spare time for some five years cruising Willoughby Bay as a crew member on chartered boats before buying his own boat. Once he got a taste of racing, he was hooked.
``I had to go out and get my own boat so I could control the equipment,'' he said.
After purchasing About Time, Archer, a 47-year-old Larchmont resident, began scouting for a crew. He didn't have to look far. His first recruit was Eric Imhof, an intern at the medical school who already had been crewing with him. His second was his 12-year-old daughter, Beth, a seventh-grader at Norfolk Collegiate School.
Archer and Imhof, now a clinical psychologist, built the crew from there with colleagues who expressed an interest in learning to sail. Other members are Jim Babione, a Norfolk chiropractor; David Karmolinski, a mental health counselor; and Adolph Brown III, a faculty member in psychology at Hampton University.
Before joining, most had little sailing, much less racing, experience.
Brown, 27, in fact, had none.
``I'd never even sailed before,'' Brown said. ``He (Archer) hooked me in.''
``Hooked'' is right. Now the crew spends every weekend on About Time. As part of Cruising Club of Virginia, they race at least once - and sometimes twice - a week during the season, some 30 races in all.
``We're not very casual about it ... and we're getting more intense,'' Archer said.
His daughter added:
``I didn't really want to race in the beginning, but I wanted to be involved in something my dad was doing. Now I really enjoy it. It's so much fun.''
As mental health professionals, the crew finds racing to be a source of mental rejuvenation for them.
``Besides the wind, the sun and the sea, there's really something special when the crew comes together,'' said Imhof, 30. ``There's nothing like it. It's a dream.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JOAN C. STANUS
The crew of the 25-foot sailing boat, About Time, includes, from
left: Eric Imhop, skipper Robert Archer, Beth Archer, Adolph Brown
and David Karmolinski. by CNB