Sally Helme Elizabeth “Sally” Snowden Ely Helme of Middletown, R.I., beloved daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin and dog mom passed away unexpectedly on March 20, 2024, at 70. In her younger years her family summered on Shelter Island, N.Y., where Helme developed her skills and passion for sailing and boating. She sailed one-design boats, Woodpussy and Comet, at Shelter Island Yacht Club (SIYC) on the east end of Long Island for multiple regattas. She later moved up to sail large handicap boats as crew and occasional skipper of the family’s Bristol 34 Typhoon. She was SIYC’s first female sailing director.…
Doug Baker Celebrated Long Beach yachtsman and offshore racing sailor Doug Baker died of cancer at his Naples home Nov. 22, 2023, at the age of 85. Born Nov. 11, 1938, in Long Beach, Douglas Warren Baker graduated from Poly High and went to work for the family business, Banker Tanks Rentals. Baker launched his competitive sailing career with a Hobie 15 and gradually progressed through the ranks to his most recent boat, the Kernan 68, built in 2005 and named Peligroso, Spanish for “dangerous.” Well before taking ownership of Peligroso, Baker had raced in 21 Transpac races and several…
Mike Birch Canadian ocean racer Mike Birch passed at age 90, on October 26, 2022 in Brittany, France. Birch is famous on the ocean racing circuit for winning the first Route du Rhum Race in 1978 from Saint Malo to Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe aboard the 30-foot Walter Greene-designed trimaran, Olympus Photo. Birch became well known as an ocean racer but didn’t start out that way. He was born in Vancouver B.C. and was a gold miner, then on oil driller and even a cowboy. He didn’t start sailing seriously until he was 44 years old. After work as a delivery…