It was a festive occasion at the Gibson Island Club on Jan. 28, when a range of 1994 trophies and awards were presented to sailors by officials of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association.
First was the presentation of the three divisional awards for best overall. These scores are calculated in much the same way as High Point standings, except that worst-race throw-outs are not included, and each candidate must be the winner of his own class in that year's High Point competition.
This year's winner of the Labrot Trophy for overall Handicap Division champion was Hampton Yacht Club's Bill Peach, from Newport News, Va. Peach campaigned Revenge to victory in PHRF A-Region IV South.
The Healy Memorial Trophy for overall Cruising One-Design Division champion was presented to Eastport Yacht Club's Ben Capuco and Peter Rich of Annapolis for their J/24 campaign with Show Dog. The Corinthian Cask for overall One-Design champion went to West River Sailing Club's Alexander "Ali" Meller of Gaithersburg, winner of the International 5-0-5 class.
Among the other overall awards was the Lady Anne Arundel Trophy, annually presented to the highest scoring yacht in High Point competition whose skipper lives in Anne Arundel County. This year's winner was the team of owner Jim Michie of Arnold and helmsman John Clarke and the crew aboard WOFTAM.
The Michie/Clarke team won the 22-boat PHRF A-1 Region III class by just 0.0013 points over the second-place Infringer team headed by Don Zinn.
Next was Race Committee of the Year awards, which this year were presented to Annapolis Yacht Club in the Championships Division for producing the J/22 Worlds last fall; to Hampton Yacht Club in the Handicap & Cruising One-Design Division for its Southern Bay Race Week; and to Severn Sailing Association in the One-Design Division, for successfully running both the Snipe World Championship and the J/24 East Coast Championship last year.
Overall awards for Annapolis Race Week in September also were presented, with the City of Annapolis Trophy for best overall performance and the Silhouette Trophy for best in the PHRF Division going to Ken Saylor of Hampton, Va., and his Cliffhanger crew. The Crossland Trophy for best overall in the Cruising One-Design Division and the Calvert Trophy for best overall performance by an Anne Arundel County boat went to Jim Ellis of Arnold and his Blue Moon team for its victory in the J/30 class.
Overall class winners also were honored, including Ellis; Matt Mayfield of Arlington, Va., and his Cal 25 team on Alice May; PHRF A winner Promises from St. Mary's College; PHRF B champ David Wiemer of Baltimore and his Airwaves crew; PHRF C's Cold Duck, campaigned by the Schoolden/Wright team out of Magothy River Sailing Association; PHRF Nonspinnaker winners Bob and Patti Polk of Annapolis and their Class team; and Annapolis Yacht Club's Lewis/Salvesen team and crew on Mirage in MORC.
Another overall trophy awarded at Gibson Island was the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron's award for best performance in the NASS Race to Oxford, earned by Region II Vice President Lee Glenn and Roxanne Williams and their team aboard a.k.a./Diamond.
Backe, Blackistone honored
Don Backe of Annapolis has earned U.S. SAILING's Community Sailing Program's Marty Luray Award for his contributions to further public access sailing in the U.S.
Backe, who heads the Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating program, was recognized for creating an inclusive atmosphere for all people while being a strong advocate of accessible community sailing.
A lifelong sailor who has been a paraplegic since an accident in 1987, Backe has been instrumental in sharing with other disabled people the joy and satisfaction that returning to sailing brought him after his accident. He also has been an advocate of access to sailing for everyone.
Another of the 10 award recipients honored at the Community Sailing Conference in San Diego last week was author Mick Blackistone of Annapolis, whose book "Broken Wings Will Fly" was inspired by his association with Backe and the other founders of CRAB.
It is the story of a young girl, newly confined to a wheelchair, whose life is dramatically illuminated when she gets outside herself to help another and gets back in a sailboat in the process.