From left, Brian Miller, Joy Okazaki and Mike Johnson.

Sailors Joy Okazaki and Michael Johnson have participated in and fundraised for the annual Leukemia Cup Regatta for more than a decade, but this time it’s personal.

The Edmonds couple is dedicating their fundraising efforts this year to their friend and sailor Brian Miller, who has multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Okazaki said while raising money for blood cancer research and treatment has always been an important cause, Miller’s illness has underscored the need for ongoing funding.

“It’s different because you feel like you’re doing it for somebody,” she said.

A few years ago, Miller was an active mountaineer who ate well and took care of himself. So he was puzzled when his heart rate started veering wildly up and down. He went to his doctor, who sent him to a hematologist. Miller got the diagnosis in January 2009, on his 61st birthday.

“I was in pretty good shape,” he said. “This sort of came out of the blue.”

This Saturday, June 11, Okazaki and Johnson will join dozens of sailors participating in the 17th Annual Leukemia Cup Regatta out of Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle. Funds raised from the event , which is held at locations across the U.S., support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The organization provides funding for blood cancer research and support services for cancer patients and families.

Okazaki and Johnson will be sailing in the regatta for the fifteenth time this year. Avid racers, they got involved in the annual event as a way to put their love of sailing to use for a good cause. They met Miller in the mid-1990s through sailboat racing, never thinking they would one day dedicate their fundraising efforts to him.

Through her involvement with the regatta, Okazaki said, she’s learned the importance of the work that LLS funds. Locally, those efforts include paying for researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, and matching cancer patients with mentors who have gone through treatment. Still, Okazaki said fundraising is a challenge each year.

“What people don’t realize is how valuable their (donation) is,” she said.

After his diagnosis, Miller began receiving regular blood transfusions and started chemotherapy a few weeks ago. Having cancer has driven home how expensive treatment can be – one drug he takes costs $6,700 a month, he said. And while most of his treatment is covered by insurance, Miller said, others aren’t as fortunate.

Miller hopes people understand the need to continue funding research and in turn, make new treatments more accessible and affordable.

“It’s very expensive and time-consuming and risky to try to come up with a new treatment,” he said. “Now that I’m there, I’m a direct beneficiary of all the funds that have been donated.”

Saturday’s regatta will be followed by a luau and auction at Elliott Bay Marina starting at 4 p.m. The event will include Hawaiian food, live music and a silent auction with items such as restaurant gift certificates, boat maintenance packages and a weekend golf getaway at Port Ludlow Resort. Tickets are $25 and are available at the door.

Skippers can still register for the regatta, which costs $200 and includes a t-shirt and two tickets to the after-party. Online registration closes at noon on Friday, but skippers can also register on-site Saturday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Seattle Yacht Club outstation. To register or donate, go to the LLS’s website.

We’re closing online registration Friday at noon, but Skippers can still register on-site Saturday, between 10am and 1pm at the SYC outstation.

Miller appreciates the efforts of Okazaki, Johnson and others participating in the regatta to help raise money for a cause he now understands all too well.

“it’s great that there are people like Joy and Mike who will put as much effort into the Leukemia Cup as they have over the years,” he said. “it’s a great cause and it helps a lot of people.”

About Marty McOmber

Marty McOmber is editor and co-founder of Three Sheets Northwest. He is an avid sailor and long-time professional journalist. You can find Marty aboard Three Sheets, an Island Packet 38.

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