The annual Village Cup Regatta, a friendly competition between Mather Hospital and the Village of Port Jefferson, NY, will take place on Saturday, September 7. Presented by the Port Jefferson Yacht Club, the regatta raises funds for Mather’s Palliative Medicine Program and the Lustgarten Foundation, which funds pancreatic cancer research. The event has raised more than $509,600 for the two organizations.
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Actor/director and local resident Ralph Macchio will again act as community ambassador for the event. This is the seventh year Macchio has helped to publicize the important work of the two programs funded by the regatta. Macchio’s wife, Phyllis, is a nurse practitioner in Mather’s Palliative Medicine Program.
The regatta comprises PJYC-skippered sailboats divided into two teams representing Mather Hospital and the Village of Port Jefferson. Employees from the Hospital and Village help crew the boats, which race in one of three classes based on boat size. The festivities begin in Harborfront Park at 10 am. Regatta t-shirts designed by a local artist and signed by Macchio will be available for purchase along with the event’s commemorative t-shirts, hats, nautical bags and mugs. The Memorial Parade of Boats begins at 11 am at the Port Jefferson Village dock. All sailboats participating in the regatta will pass by the park dressed in banners and nautical flags.
Following the regatta, a celebratory Skipper’s Reception and presentation of the Village Cup will take place in a restored 1917 shipyard building that now serves as the Port Jefferson Village Center. Businesses, organizations and individuals can support the regatta and the programs it funds by making a donation or purchasing tickets to attend the Skipper’s Reception or view the Regatta on a spectator boat. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit portjeffersonyachtclub.com/community/village-cup/ or facebook.com/villagecupregatta. Sponsorships also are available.
PJYC initiated the Village Cup Regatta primarily to call attention to and to support efforts to combat pancreatic cancer, which has claimed the lives of two of its members in recent years. The event also promotes a closer relationship between the Club and the Village in the wonderful maritime setting they share. ■
