The Nan Norris Memorial Regatta is dedicated to Nancy Neal Norris, a pioneering woman sailor who mentored, judged, momed and coached decades of sailors. Her son coined -the NANCY- as a short form of title.

Together with her close friends Gan Haeger, Gretchen Oster, Marge Harey, and Marcia Berman, they created a formidable prescence in sailing. No one grows up on Lake Beulah with just one mom or one house. Every house is your house. Every mom is your mom. Nancy and her five friends were a core of the original moms.

The regatta began as a challenge of the Lake Beulah Yacht Club to sailors from other sailing fields to try and compete on Lake Beulah Waters.