The 7th Annual Jennifer Diamond Celebrity Sailboat Regatta was held Saturday, August 22 at the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey. This wonderful charity had sailors jumping on-board to raise funds for the Jennifer Diamond Cancer Foundation, JDCF as they got a little wet and had a great time.

Jennifer Diamond Celebrity Regatta at the Del Rey Yacht Club Left: Captain Robert Goldstein

Many caring folks came out to support the Jennifer Diamond Cancer Foundation’s 10 mile regatta. There were 14 sailboats racing for this cause. After all the sailors crossed the finish line they attended the "Skippers and Sailors" barbecue and awards ceremony hosted by Jennifer Diamond’s parents, Harvey and Alice Diamond. During the festive gathering, the Diamond's explained that the Jennifer Diamond Cancer Foundation purpose is to give cancer patients a place to learn as much as possible about their disease and to support cancer research.

From Left to Right: Sailor Kimo Worthington, CSI Miami's Khandi Alexander, Sailor Zac Sunderland and Comedienne Kathy Buckley

Celebrities who joined in on the fun to help raise funds and awareness to fight cancer included Kimo Worthington, former America’s Cup Winner who was proud to be a 6-time participant in the race; CSI Miami’s Khandi Alexander who donated funds and watched the race on the spectator power boat; Zac Sunderland, the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe at the mere age of 17 on his 36’ yacht participated; comedienne Kathy Buckley, deaf two-time cancer survivor made the crowd cry with laughter.

Prior to the race, Harvey Diamond explained to us the basics of the race. First, the boats have an 'assigned start' depending on their sailboat’s performance. For instance, the slower boats cross the starting line first, whereas the faster boats cross last. Once the race begins the sailors follow a charted path trying to gain position, during the 10 mile race navigating around buoys to their finale at Marina Del Rey. As we awaited the race, I watched as the sailboats jived back and forth.

The air horn blew and the sailboats started the regatta. Seeing their spinnakers or front sail up as their sailboats glided across the water was a magnificent site. They maneuvered around the buoys and tackled forward in a zigzag pattern.

Overall 1st Place Winner Captain Paul Katz and Crew

Captain Paul Katz’s racing sailboat Bravura took 1st place winning the coveted Jennifer Diamond Cancer Perpetual Trophy for the second time .

Zac Sunderland, 1st Place Winner for Spinnaker Cruising

Zac Sunderland took 1st place in the spinnaker cruising class on Sid Lamperts G-Rated.

Kathy and Jennifer’s parents stressed the importance of cancer research needing to be accessible. The comedienne spoke about her dilemma about how hard it was to find information about her cancer diagnosis because of her hearing disability. Alice Diamond described how the Jennifer Diamond Cancer Foundation has been striving to prevent this lack of information by providing Cancer Resource Libraries. JDCF is currently working on completing their 8th information library. Alice Diamond conveyed privately to Lawrence Davis, Publisher of Splash Magazines Worldwide the history of their daughters loss at the age of 30 and the birth of their foundation, he could not help but tear up.

Bottom Left: Harvey and Alice Diamond promoting Jennifer Diamond Cancer Foundation Bottom Right: Their Daughter, Jennifer Diamond

Alice described their desperation to find Jennifer’s diagnosis. Jennifer was only 27 years old when she first became ill. The family went from doctor to doctor and they assured them there was no way Jennifer had cancer at her age. Tragically the doctors took 10 months to diagnose Jennifer with an Orphan Disease, which is described by MedicineNet.com as a disease which has not been "adopted" by the pharmaceutical industry because it provides little financial incentive for the private sector to make and market new medications to treat or prevent it. Apparently there are 350 people a year that contract her particular orphan disease annually, which is cancer of the appendix. After her diagnosis to the time of her death at 30 years of age, Jennifer Diamond decided to start an organization to spread cancer information and signed the documents to establish the Jennifer Diamond Cancer Foundation and sadly passed a week afterwards.

For her funeral her parent’s requested that the guests make a contribution to the newly formed foundation, instead of sending flowers. The donation from her funeral was enough to build their first cancer library in Westlake Village, California. Alice spoke with her husband saying if they throw some great parties, maybe we can build another library. This idea is how the foundation has continued for the last seven years. Alice and Harvey Diamond organized a committee and they met in their kitchen. During the meeting, Jim Angfoloni from the NATEL Corp as a member of the board generously offered 10,000 ft.² of space for their foundation. So this September, in addition to their libraries they are starting their first Cancer Center, which will include a children’s room. The Wellness Center is excited to volunteer their time to this facility by giving advice and helping cancer patients with their needs. This charity is dedicated to supporting various organizations fighting cancer to continue Jennifer Diamond’s legacy.

Join us on the race for cancer as a spectator or set your sails. Find out more at http://www.jenniferdiamond.com/.

All photos by Lawrence Davis

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