Wood sisters keep tradition afloat

Alex Katz

CORONA DEL MAR -- Sisters Heather and Andrea Wood took to the sea in

14-foot boats last week to race, as their grandfather had countless times

before his death at the end of last year.

Neither of the Wood sisters had spent much time in a Lido 14 sailboat

before racing in the regatta named after their grandfather, legendary

seafarer and lifeguard Harry Wood.

The two blond, athletic Newport Beach natives entered the race to carry

on a family tradition. They entered to honor their grandfather. They

entered to get out on the ocean on a warm day.

But most of all, both sisters say they entered to beat each other.

“It’s a family tradition, and I thought it would be cool to have my name

on the trophy, but my sister got it!” said Heather, 19, pounding her fist

on a table at the waterfront Balboa Yacht Club, which sponsored this

year’s race.

Andrea Wood, 24, placed first in the tournament in the master’s division

sailing with Ed Rodriguez, an 80-something-year-old friend of her

grandfather’s.

“I just wanted to beat my sister,” Andrea said. “She’s my little sister,

so I have to beat her.”

The annual Harry Wood Regatta began more than 30 years ago as a memorial

to the Long Beach lifeguard and sailboat racing champ, who was gravely

ill and was not expected to live.

Wood recovered, and years later won the race founded to honor his memory.

Wood, who is credited with saving 85 Girl Scouts and their troop leaders

when their boat lost power in a storm, donated an ornate silver serving

platter adorned with goblets and hors d’oeuvre trays to be used as the

race’s trophy.

A plaque with the names of Andrea and her partner will soon go on the

gaudy trophy, which the yacht club keeps in a glass case facing the

swaying masts of boats moored in the harbor.

Heather, who placed fourth with her partner in the master’s division,

said she would race with her sister again, but preferably as a crewman,

not as a competitor.

“I’m more of a motocross, horseback-riding chick,” she said while wearing

spurs into the posh yacht club on the way to her job as a horse trainer.

Andrea, a mother of a 2-year-old boy, said she will return to the harbor

next year to defend her title. She said she hopes to sail one of her

grandfather’s boats in next year’s race.

Whether she wins or not, the Wood name will continue to be a part of

local racing history.