Someone really knows but they are not telling. I imagine it's a sordid story filled with infidelity, lies, power struggles within a clubs flag line, a burley foredeck person who's day job is a pool boy, and a first marriage wife named Pat, who flashed real jewelry and faked orgasms.

My conversations with the historical sage on this matter reveals that the Princess Pat was begun somewhere around 1963. It was a short evening race that started from the Edgewater basin, inside the along the break wall and finished at Forest city. The race was kind of a party race for the next day when a more serious race was held from Forest City. Pat was either a wife, mistress, or both who enjoyed weekday afternoons at the pool.

Here is a cute Princess Pat Song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ6G-kUHUqE&feature=related