Adams Cup: 1976 Memories by Jane Lawton Baldridge

1976 Memories by Jane Lawton Baldridge

I am so excited about the Adams Cup portion of the website!

Ellen, Ruthie and myself all had raced the eliminations for several years in an attempt to make it to the finals and win. Ellen for eleven, Ruthie for nine and myself for five.

The 1976 series took us to Rochester, NY for the finals. We had a tough series weather wise plus fighting the Buchans. We were tied going into the last race. Tired from the weather, tired from pushing for so many years, tired of sailing with women (haha) and we were doing an AC type start, doggin them and they us. For a brief moment Ann Boyd (SC) got in the  mix. We were able to push Buchan over the starting line early and sailed a glorious race to victory, beating them by eight points.

Being from Texas, we had the trophy filled with margaritas, not as popular in the 70s as now.

What I remember most was practicing a lot. We sailed every regatta we could, plus went out after school and after work — we gave up all else in our lives to get good enough to make it to the finals. We were fortunate to have John Kolius coach us and push us that last year.

- Jane Lawton Baldridge, 1st, 1976 Adams Cup in Rochester, NY
(Winning team: Ellen Gerloff, Ruthie Maudlin, Jane Baldridge, Rita Matthews)