Area Sports

Donors can benefit from giving to the Sequim Bay Yacht Club's Reach For Hospice event in September. For this year's sailboat race that raises funds for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, yacht club members are offering "Reward Rides." For a $100-plus contribution, donors are offered an afternoon on the water, in a powerboat or sailboat, on Sept. 6, two weeks before the hospice race.

As in previous years, funds raised from the Sept. 20 Reach For Hospice event are earmarked for respite care, where a skilled nurse stays with the patient while family members take care of family and personal business.

Funds raised from the "Reward Ride" are also for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County.

In 2007, the race generated more than $24,400 for Volunteer Hospice that provides more than 1,500 hours of respite care, said race publicity chairman Sue Sorensen. Since the first Reach for Hospice Race in 1991, race donations totaling more than $106,700 have been donated to Volunteer Hospice. All donations are tax deductible; checks may be mailed to VHOCC, 540 E. Eighth St., Port Angles, WA 98362.

"The goal of both events ... is to have fun and raise money for VHOCC," Sorensen said.

In 1991, Dr. Mike Crim, captain of Sailfleet, proposed a sailboat race to raise funds for Hospice of Clallam County. The first race, organized by Mike and Scott Ogilvie, was held from Sequim Bay around Smith Island and back, about 35 miles round trip. With traditional "westerly" winds, the race would be a reach both ways, hence "Reach for Hospice".

In 1996 the Fred Tidyman Memorial Trophy was established. Each year, the winners of each race division are honored by having their names engraved on the trophy.

For more information about Reach for Hospice, see www.sequimbay

yachtclub.org.