The main fundraiser is known as the Leukemia Cup Regatta. Boat captains and their crew ask for sponsorship to raise money for LSA and then race in a day-long regatta, in which boats perform fundraising activities and participate in a day-long regatta. The top fund-raising boats win prizes, and all get to party afterwards. In addition to the Cup, the RI Chapter also chartered three 12-meter yachts for a day of racing in Newport Harbor.

I was assigned to sail on the 12-meter Northern Light, which seemed appropriate, as I've just returned from Alaska. As we motored out into the harbor, although wind conditions were very light, we noticed that there were some serious-looking clouds to the northwest. Our coach and the captain said we might get a shower, but didn't think that the weather would be too bad. Knowing that the predicted storm front hadn't come through, and with my recent track record with weather, I wasn't too optimistic.

As a passenger on the boat, most of us were given staff positions to help in the race. I was assigned to be one of three people to help keep the mainsail intact; I had to pull on a rope to bring the sail in, and push on the boom when it was time to move the sail out. Another person at my station had to let the rope in, and tie it down once the sail was in proper position. It didn't seem too complicated, but the sailing coach said that things can get pretty hectic when the wind is blowing hard.

After a few practice tacks, the race started, and we headed upwind toward the first mark near the Newport Bridge. About halfway to the mark, the showers started... it was still fairly warm rain, and I had my slicker on, so I wasn't too worried. I also didn't notice that the sky had become really dark to the northwest, as I was keeping an eye on the sail.

About 2 minutes later, seemingly out of nowhere, a squall kicked up and caught us off guard with a 30-knot breeze. Whitecaps were all over the bay, even though seas had been near-calm only a minute before. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but the mainsail apparently wasn't tight enough, and the wind shifted during the squall. The yacht pitched hard to port, and the captain ordered that the mainsail be let out... I'm not sure whether we didn't execute quickly enough, the wind was just too strong, but we tacked when we really didn't intend to. The boat pitched very steeply in the other direction, so far that that we had the rail in the water, listing at a 45-degree angle. At this point, the four of us in the middle of the boat were holding on _really_ tightly, and if we had lost footing, it would have been ugly. Once we let the boom out, the boat stopped pitching, and things returned almost back to normal. However, we had ripped two pockets off the mainsail, and broke a cable leading to the mast. We limped back into the harbor, dropped sail, and tied up at the dock for lunch. Interestingly, the other two yachts were unharmed... only the yacht on which I was present had problems.

When I got home that night, I saw on the news that the same squall had capsized about a dozen small boats on a sailing class in the Sakonnet River, 5 miles away. Two other guys off Block Island had their speedboat swamped, and nearly drowned. The Coast Guard got called in, and nobody was injured. Luckily, the Leukemia Cup races were unaffected, as these races hadn't started yet. I'm told that the rest of the day was a smashing success, with over $25,000 raised for charity.

Overall, the day was very exciting, the boats were beautiful, and we raised money for a good cause. I'll do it again next year, if I have the opportunity.