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Diane McKeever will be the first to tell you she knows little about sailboat racing. She does know computers, however. It is the marriage between the two that helped put her in the position of co-chairman for the Stamford Yacht Club's Vineyard Race. It starts on Sept. 3.
"I got wrangled into it,'' says Diane, whose husband, Ed, owned sailboats for 40 years. "The more involved you get, the more exciting it is."
McKeever's main task is to score the race, and that's harder than it sounds. There are three competitions. The Vineyard Race, which is in its 76th year, is 238 miles and takes sailors around Block Island and back to Stamford. The Seaflower course is 142 miles, and the Cornfield Point race 116. McKeever records best elapsed times and best corrected times for each race. Handicaps are intended to make boats, not skippers, equal in performance, according to the US Sailing website. "We have to make sure the information we have is logical and accurate,'' says McKeever, who runs a software training business. Her co-chairman is Charles Goodrich.
Besides computer skills, McKeever brings personality and energy. She pushed last year to increase the field, and 78 boats entered, up from 50 in 2008. This year she'd like to get 100 sailboats. She also suggested moving post-race festivities from Monday to Sunday. She also moved it outdoors to the club's large lawn, and attendance soared.
The celebration might have been the best part of last year's event. With the forecast calling for lack of wind, race officials canceled the 238-mile race for the first time in its 75-year history. "Our concern was if we sent them out on the course they would just drop out,'' Diane says. "It's a decision I hope we never have to make again."
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