Long Beach Police win 2015 Heroes Regatta
June 15, 2015
LONG BEACH — City of Long Beach police officer Johnny Dodson and his “Police 3” team won the second annual Heroes Regatta on May 23, hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and raced on the club’s fleet of Catalina 37s to honor local first responders in the community.
A beautiful spring day greeted the teams with manageable breezes of 8-12 knots. Dodson gave credit to his key coaches Chris Macy and Steve Comstock and commented on the regatta.
“This was an amazing experience,” Dodson said, “one that we are proud to be a part of.”
Dodson recognized his teammates Toby Benskin, Larry Fleet and Christopher Zamora and his entire team for their hard work today.
“There were a lot of people involved in this,” Dodson said. “They were all very helpful and made everything safe.”
The event was created by Long Beach YC’s Yachting Committee who three years ago created a similar regatta, the Patriot Regatta, honoring all branches of the U.S. military with service members actually sailing these sleek race boats.
Members of Long Beach YC felt local first responders should also be honored with their own regatta. Last year’s inaugural regatta was won by the Long Beach Fire Department Lifeguards.
Regatta chairperson Judy Meyer passionately supports first responders and sees this regatta as one way to show support for members of local fire and police departments.
When asked for her thoughts on the Heroes Regatta, Meyer simply said, “This is the best way I know how to say, thank you.”
Final Results
1. Long Beach Police 3 Team, 2-1-3-1-1, 8 points
2. LB Police 1 Team, 3-2-2-3-2, 12
3. LB Fire 2 Team, 1-4-6-8-3, 22
4. LB Fire 4 Team, 7-6-1-7-4, 25
5. LB Fire 3 Team, 5-5-4-2-10, 26 (on tiebreaker)
6. LB Police 2 Team, 6-3-7-4-6, 26 (on tiebreaker)
7. LB Fire Lifeguards Team, 4-7-5-5-5, 26
8. LB Police 5 Team, 9-8-9-6-7, 39
9. LB Fire 1 Team, 8-9-8-10-8, 43
10. LB Police 4 Team, 10-10-10-9-9, 48
