Thirty-two-year-old Tom Daley began racing lasers in 1988. He remembers one particular gloomy day when he drove from New York City to Rockport for a sailing regatta.
“It was August 10, 1995,” he recalled, “the day after Jerry Garcia died.”
After business school at Cornell, Tom was working in New York City while traveling weekends as a frequent and formidable competitor on New England’s six-state District 7 laser circuit.
Cambridge native Kate Brennan grew up sailing, racing Etchells and 210s at the Eastern Yacht Club and tech dinghies at MIT. After graduating from Colby College, she chose Marblehead as her home. At 27, Kate worked in Boston during the week, and raced every weekend. Although she competed in the same laser circuit as Tom, the two had never crossed paths.
“It was blowing like stink,” recalled Tom of that particular race day. “A friend of mine was on the water and his boat broke down, so he went in early.”
Kate also found the conditions challenging. “I kept capsizing,” she said of her decision to withdraw and head back to the dock.
Despite the 12-18-mph winds, Tom was the first to reach the dock, capturing a first-place victory.
“When I got to the dock, I saw my friend standing there with his broken boat talking to this girl,” Tom said of his first encounter with Kate.
The three began chatting about the race and made plans to go out that night.
“I had borrowed my friend’s van, which was enormous, a stretch van, and we piled a bunch of people in,” Tom said. “Kate sat up front.”
Gloucester Yacht Club in those days only had showers for men.
“The bad news for me was that I had salt-water hair,” Kate recalled of that night.
Two weeks later, the pair saw each other again at the regatta in Portland. Tom pulled into the parking lot and there was Kate, standing alongside her boat.
“It was filthy from the travel, so I helped her wash it,” Tom said with a smile.
After the regatta, the group reconvened for a night of dancing at a local dive bar. While dancing with Kate, Tom “dipped me,” Kate recalled vividly.
“My hair was salty because my boat had capsized, so when he dipped me, my hair got caught in the gumball machine. I was trapped!” she said.
“I took that opportunity to kiss her because she couldn’t move,” Tom laughed.
The gumball-machine incident marked the beginning of a two-year courtship, with Tom eventually transferring to Boston.
En route to Newport, R.I. in October of 1997, Kate hadn’t thought much of a cigar Tom’s brother handed to her, saying “Give it to Tom later.” That evening, Tom proposed in the garden of Newport’s Harbour Court New York Yacht Club.
Six months later, on April 25, 1998, Tom and Kate were married at Our Lady, Star of the Sea in Marblehead. After a few stints in England, the Daleys would eventually settle and raise their three children, William, Georgiana, and Libby, in Marblehead. In December of 2015, Kate opened Marblehead Knits on Washington Street. “The community aspect of the store” is what she loves most.
Of their 26-year marriage, Kate says, “We met sailing against each other. And we’re still sailing against each other.”
Leslie Martini is a freelance writer and children’s book author. Though she and her family have lived in Marblehead for more than 26 years, Leslie is still discovering countless untold stories. If you’d like to share your story, please contact leslie@marbleheadweeklynews.com.