Another regatta, another record: $125K raised for cancer research

LACONIA — Year after year, the sailing event in memory of a young boy who died from a rare cancer raises more money than it did before. The 10th Annual JBT Regatta, held this weekend at the Winnipesaukee Yacht Club, is no different.

Jesse Thompson, one of the organizers of the event, said some checks are still arriving with donations, but he’s confident in saying, “We’re going to finish up around $125,000,” which is about $10,000 ahead of last year’s figure.

Cumulatively, the event has raised more than $800,000 for The Cure Starts Now Foundation, which is dedicated to funding research that could cure the rare form of brain cancer known as DIPG, the disease which took the life of 7-year-old John Bradley Thompson in 2014.

Jesse — John’s father — said the sailing event started out strong, and picked up steam thanks to an assist from a hockey event the Thompson family puts on each winter in partnership with the New England Wolves team.

In the “Not So Mini JBT Shootout” — which raised more than $33,000 this winter — contestants sign up for the chance to try and score on a goalie, and are given an advantage based on how much they fundraise. That element has found a home with the regatta, as sailors can shave a minute off their final time for each thousand dollars they raise.

“I think it really does a good job of expanding our reach,” Thompson said. The top fundraiser this year was Nancy Hesko, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, who sailed in “Dearest’s Dinghy” and collected $16,000 for The Cure Starts Now. Her advantage wasn’t enough to stave off the technical wizardry of Carter White, a sailmaker from Portland, Maine, who piloted a J-80 called “He’s Back” to the first place finish.

“He put his sailing prowess to good work, on a choppy lake with light air,” Thompson said of White, who was once an instructor at the Lake Winnipesaukee Sailing Association.

In total, 26 teams signed up for the regatta this year, and 25 found their way to the finish line. Thompson said more than half of the fundraising was thanks to the sailors and their pre-race efforts. The rest was collected during the “huge party” at the yacht club, which included a barbecue, silent auction and pop-up JBT merchandise store.

Thompson said the regatta and the hockey events both serve as ways to honor his son’s legacy, as well as to bring a measure of peace to a family that went through a kind of experience that few families will ever know. To hear Thompson talk about it, he would like his family to be the last to know what that experience is like.

“I think we all handle situations differently, even within a family. Everyone’s different, how you grieve, how you approach these kinds of things, whether they help you or it’s unneeded stress and angst. For some it’s healthy, for some it’s not,” Thompson said. “For me, the events help, because when you can’t control a situation like that, all you can do is try to do some good. Try to turn what John was, what John could have been, turn that into good for someone else.”

The Cure Starts Now is aimed at finding a cure for DIPG, and the thought that if a cure can be found for this kind of cancer, the research involved would constitute a “home run cure” that could be applied to most, if not all, other cancers.

“I know I’m not going to be the one to go out and figure out what the cure for cancer is, but I can certainly throw a party and raise a bunch of money,” Thompson said.

It isn’t something he and his family do alone, either, Thompson noted. The yacht club, normally reserved for members only, opens its doors to the public for this event, and the community has proven unflagging in its support for the family and their cause.

“People keep showing up, people keep helping, keep supporting. It’s not because we’re pounding on the table and asking, it’s because they want to be part of a great community, and that’s what we’ve got,” Thompson said.

Part of that support came from Bank of New Hampshire in the form of the “JBT Perseverance Award.” This year, the award was given to Max Gagnon, a boy from Laconia who has spent the majority of his life dealing with leukemia.

“He sailed with me that day,” Thompson said about Gagnon. “He’s a great, funny kid. It’s amazing the outlook, the maturity that’s inside that 11-year-old kid. Through all that he’s been through he can still be a kid, which is pretty awesome ... We’re proud of him and we’re honored to give that award.”

Michael Gagnon, Max’s father, said his son was already into sailing, having been exposed to it through LWSA’s summer camp programs, but “he’s in love with it now,” after helping to crew Thompson’s boat in the regatta.

The perseverance award will be well earned by Max. Michael said Max was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 4 years old, and was in treatment until he was 6, then was in remission for several years. Last year, during a regular check-up, his doctors discovered the disease had returned. The Gagnons went back to Boston Children’s Hospital for 43 days of treatment, then last winter Max was fitted with a chemo pump, his dad said, which required every-other-day trips to Boston for refills of his medication.

“Now he’s getting chemo at home once a week, we go down to Boston every four weeks to check in with his team. That will be happening for 14 months. All in all, it’s a two-year treatment for him,” Michael said.

Yet, Max doesn’t let the treatment take the wind out of his sails. Michael said it’s not uncommon for Max to do his chemo in the morning, then go skiing in the afternoon. Max has also discovered his own capacity to help others, using his story to inspire toy drives or other forms of charitable giving. This coming weekend, the Gagnons will participate in the “Rafting for Wishes” event in Meredith Bay, a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish New Hampshire.

“I’d love to thank the Thompson family for including Max,” said Michael, noting his family has been “humbled” by the support they’ve received from the community since word got out about Max’s situation. Since receiving the perseverance award, Michael said, “the kid hasn’t stopped smiling.”