Dave and Renee Spang of Rochester won Rochester’s tenth annual Hospice Regatta on Saturday, August 16 by a margin of more than two minutes over “Arrow” and skipper Brook Richardson of Fairport (Rochester Yacht Club) after more than three hours of racing on Lake Ontario.

The Spangs’ boat, “US 30,” is a custom-designed 30-foot yacht. “Arrow,” a Petersen 34, finished less than a minute ahead of “Silver Bullet,” part of the RYC fleet of Beneteau 40.7 yachts.

The Hospice Regatta is the Rochester area’s premier charity regatta, with proceeds going to support Hospice services provided by Lifetime Care to terminally ill people and their families. This year's event was hosted by Genesee Yacht Club (GYC), and net proceeds exceed $80,000.

GYC member Elaine Carter, skipper of “Bote Hook,” won the Hildebrandt Spirit Award, presented annually to the boat whose skipper and crew raise the largest amount of donations to Hospice. Funds raised by the Regatta help to support operations of Lifetime Care’s new Hildebrandt Hospice Care Center, which opened last November in Greece.

The original painting donated to the Regatta by the late Franz Schwenk was won by Barry Gheer of Pultneyville Yacht Club, who plans to display the painting in the PYC clubhouse.

On Saturday, the 62 boats that competed on two courses enjoyed ideal sailing conditions, with sunny skies and increasingly brisk winds during the day.

Larry Sill and Eileen Duggan (GYC) won the Charlie Bertrand Memorial Trophy for finishing first overall on “Moondance” in the Regatta’s Genoa-Only fleet.

As the overall winner of the Hospice Regatta, the Spangs earn an invitation to the National Hospice Regattas Championship next spring.

Click here for combined overall results for the Spinnaker fleet. Click here for division placing results for the Spinnaker fleet. Click here for combined overall results for the Genoa Only fleet, and click here for division results for the GO fleet.

More than 700 people attended the Regatta Cruise and Clambake (Friday, August 15) or the Regatta Party (Saturday), and hundreds of names and remembrance messages were written onto the 2008 Memorial Sail. A Memorial Fleet of six Opti dinghies rigged with Memorial Sails from prior years cruised by the party site on Saturday, just before the awards presentation.