SHORELINES

19 Shor e l i n e S | 2014 Vol :3 Championship Tulane Sailing Team in 1975 and 1976. After college, Tom spent time working in Europe before coming back home and continuing to sail with the Birmingham Sailing Club in the Laser and Thistle fleets. After Tom's death in 1986, a friend and fellow sailor, Tad Bailey, donated a special trophy that is awarded each year at the Birmingham Sailing Club Leukemia Cup Regatta in Tom's honor. The Tom Reich Sportsmanship Trophy "stands as a reminder to the Club of those qualities of sportsmanship, friendliness and courtesy that Tom exemplified and are so essential to the sport of sailing," a description on the Birmingham Sailing Club website reads. It is obvious the way Reich's eyes light up when talking about the trophy that he sees it as a fitting tribute to his son. The Leukemia Cup started at Birmingham's Pine Harbor Yacht Club in 1987 before moving to the Birmingham Sailing Club. Bo Smith and his wife, Mary Carol Smith, wanted to do something to honor Stan Wrobel, a friend who had been diagnosed and later died of leukemia. Other sailing clubs across the country have taken up the cause and the Leukemia Cup has grown. As of this year, the Leukemia Cup races have raised more than $50 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Birmingham Sailing Club's Leukemia Cup race was Sept. 13-14 on Logan Martin. "It all started with our little regatta," Bo Smith says. "We never could have imagined it growing into what it is today." The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society recently gave a tip of the hat to that original event. "Since its first event in Birmingham, Alabama in 1987, the Leukemia Cup Regatta has grown throughout North America, and now has more than 40 races in 38 states and Canada," a news release from the society reads, also noting that "Leukemia Cup Regatta events take place from January through October." Mary Carol Smith can't help but smile to consider what the regattas have come to mean for those with blood cancer. "It really makes you feel good to see how it has grown all over," she says. "You have to believe that with over $50 million raised it is making a difference." Reich says treatments have advanced significantly since his son's and Wrobel's deaths. More people are surviving today, thanks in part to the money that has been raised through the Leukemia Cup regattas. Despite the advances, until there is a cure, those involved with the Leukemia Cup almost certainly will keep sailing for the cause. In the search for a cure, Harry Reich is not alone in wanting to go faster. — BOB BL ALOCK The conversation with Harry Reich continues at apcshorelines.com. Above: Photo by Bernard troncale — Harry Reich sails with Bo and Mary Carol Smith on Logan Martin Lake.

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