Boston, 2011 Oct 10

On Monday, October 10, Speed Rack invaded Boston to find the fastest rack in Beantown. Held at the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in Historic South End, this high-energy event began with 16 ladies vying for 8 spots in the preliminary round. Featuring bartenders from establishments such as Drink, Eastern Standard, Green Street, The Citizen, and Russell House Tavern, among others, the competition was tough. The top eight girls who qualified to compete were: Joy Richard (The Citizen, The Franklin), Sabrina Kershaw (The Citizen, Noir), Candace Smith (Grill 23), Trina Sturm (Trina’s Starlite Lounge), Jenn Lampman (Tremont 647), Elizabeth Powell, Kelly Unda (Harvest, Forum) and Lindsey Smith (Mistral, Gypsey Bar).

Doors opened to the public at 4pm and guests were treated to sponsors’ punches and cocktails, as well as beer and non-alcoholic offerings served from three bars. The Citizen, Coppa, Toro, Eastern Standard, Trina’s Starlite Lounge and Myers+Chang provided snacks and small bites. Host Chris Patino and DJ Kimiko Masuda kept the crowd entertained before the competition kicked off.

In front of a packed house of about 250 people, the competition began. Prominent locals Misty Kalkofen, Jackson Cannon, Liza Weisstuch and Christopher Myers were the judges for the evening. The round began with the judges each calling out a drink for the girls to make. The contestants had to make the drinks as quickly – and as accurately – as possible. The judges then compared the girls’ drinks side by side and issued penalty seconds to the girls for any mistakes made. The girl with the lowest time was declared the winner and moved on to the next round. 6 heated battles ensued, until we were down to the final two: Sabrina Kershaw and Kelly Unda. By a slim margin, Sabrina Kershaw was declared the winner. She will be representing Boston in the finals in NYC in May.

A fun time was had by all, and most importantly, over $5,000 was raised for breast cancer research, education and prevention.