An ‘aging’ tradition

Piloting 8-foot sailboats called sabots on Newport Harbor, about 30 or 40 sailors participated in the Little Old Ladies and Gents Regatta on Saturday, an annual event sponsored by Balboa Yacht Club.

The regatta started in the early 1970s when a group of mothers in their 20s and 30s whose children were learning how to sail sabots also took up the sport.

The event formally began in 1974 as the Little Old Lady Regatta. Eventually, men joined the event.

“The name started off as a joke at first because they were all young back then. Now we’ve all kind of aged,” said Nancy Mellon, who has been organizing the regatta for the past 15 years.

— Brianna Bailey