LONG BEACH — Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Team 1 won the third annual Patriot Regatta Saturday, held by Long Beach Yacht Club, to honor active duty members of America’s military.
The event is supported by the USO and sponsored by Friedman’s Appliance, Miyako Hybrid Hotel, Belmont Athletic Club, Toyota Motor Sales, University of Southern California, Harken and Creative Productions
More than 60 members of the Army, Army National Guard, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard all became sailors today as they took to the waters of Long Beach Harbor on the fleet of Long Beach YC’s Catalina 37 race boats, owned and managed by the Long Beach Sailing Foundation, for a day of training and racing under the supervision and guidance of skilled coaches.
Coast Guard team members Raven Perry, Paul Cirsci and Lisa Rogers posted three first place finishes out of the five race regatta under the skilled advice and encouragement from their experienced coaches; Dustin Durant, Chris Macy, Jack Bazz, James O’Sullivan and Jack Geortner.
“We loved it,” said Perry. “We definitely learned a lot about sailing today. I’ve never sailed before but I definitely want to do it again.”
Cirsci said, “Today was really exciting and a lot of fun. Our coaches were great and let us know what we should do. I never expected a sailboat race to be so intense.”
Most of the teams had six to seven members the military plus four or five coaches. But U.S. Coast Guard Team 1 was two people short today and had to go with only three members of the military.
“We started off shorthanded,” Rogers said, “but our coaches really helped. We couldn’t have done this today without our coaches.
“Last year we didn’t do so well, but this year makes up for it,” he added.
Director of the Patriot Regatta, Judy Meyer, expressed why this regatta means so much to her, “I have the highest level of respect for the men and women of our military who put their lives on the line, so I may feel safe and secure in my own life. Our military and their families are such a worthwhile group of people, I wanted to do something nice for them. This regatta is my way of giving back and saying thank you.”
Final Results
1. U.S. Coast Guard 1, 6-2-1-1-1, 11 points
2. U.S. Army National Guard, 3-6-2-2-4, 17
3. U.S. Army 2, 4-1-3-6-6, 20
4. U.S. Navy 1, 2-9-5-4-2, 22
5. U.S. Air Force 1, 1-7-7-5-3, 23
6. U.S. Marines 1, 10-4-11-3-5, 33
7. U.S. Army 1, 8-5-8-8-7, 36
8. U.S. Marines 2, 9-3-10-7-8, 37
9. U.S. Coast Guard 2, 5-11-4-11-9, 40
10. U.S. Coast Guard 3, 7-10-6-9-10, 42
11. U.S. Air Force 2, 11-8-9-10-11, 49
