On the Harbor: Recognizing our annual sailing winners

(L-R) BCYC Commodore Rolf Rolnicki with the John Pinckney Award recipients Zarrin Harvey and Kingston Keyoung

 By LEN BOSE

If you have started to hear Christmas music and noticed holiday TV ads, then you know it’s time for my annual recognition of our harbor’s sailing awards.

I’ll start with the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club’s (BCYC) awards night and the juniors. Sailing director Carolyn Smith stepped up to the podium for her first time presenting awards at BCYC, and she nailed it. One can always tell if the event is someone’s first rodeo, however, Smith’s a pro and she made the night fun and memorable with clear descriptions of the awards she was presenting. The Juniors awards always brings back good times, or even more so by diluting the agony of defeat.

The Officers and Directors 1959 Award was received by Chase Decker for his participation in the BCYC junior program. The Herb Hester Perpetual was awarded for sportsmanship and was presented to Mesa Uliasz. The top-shelf award at the club is the Jon Pinckney Perpetual, which is awarded to junior sailors with the most outstanding racing record this year. This year’s recipients were Zarrin Harvey and Kingston Keyoung. I have never seen juniors more excited about receiving an award than these two deserving awardees.

BCYC goes the extra weather leg for the Harbor 20 fleet recognizing the fleet’s top performers by awarding them the Gaudio Family One Design for the person with the best one design, racing record – the Rhonda Tolar Taco Tuesday for the best H20 record for the season and the Melanie Patterson Harbor 20 Perpetual. Not sure who was adding up the score sheet this season, yet somehow I was presented the Gaudio Family award this year. Phillip Thompson countered that by receiving the Commodore Taco Tuesday award. Thompson and I shared the Melanie Patterson Harbor 20 Perpetual, equaling out the night.

In the PHRF fleet, the Rhonda Tolar Taco Tuesday was received by Bob Kafka and a loyal crew aboard his Catalina 30 Halcyon II. Gabriel Nistor sailing XLR8 took home the Melanie Patterson PHRF Perpetual. Most honorable mention should be given to the Elmer Carvey Memorial Scholarship (until 1982, it was named the Balboa Bay Club Yachtsman of the Year) awarded to the yachtsman who most contributed to the organized yachting community. Past winners have been Cooper Johnson, Jim Emmi, Ted Kerr, Hobie Deny, Lorin Weiss, Len Bose, and Peter Haynes. The list reads on and on and includes Newport’s best yachtsmen. This year’s recipient was Paul DeCapua for all the years he has given back to the sport of sailing.

This past Sunday night’s (Nov. 12) Harbor 20 Awards presentation is always one of my favorite nights of the year, giving everyone a chance to gather and reflect on the sailing season. This year, we had many new faces attending, which is always an indication that the fleet is strong and growing with close to 100 attending the banquet at Newport Harbor Yacht Club. One of the true strengths of the fleet is that couples can sail while remaining competitive. The First Mate award is received by the top-placing couples in our fleet championships. This year, B Fleet winners were Anne and Ed Kimball. In A Fleet – these recipients are making a habit of this – Anne and Kurt Wiese aboard Ping. Team Wiese sailed an extremely impressive Fleet Championships this year with 17 points separating them from the second-place finisher.

The High Point Series is awarded to the top sailors with the best attendance on the race course. This year’s B fleet winners were Tom Corkett in 2nd Place with Anne and Ed Kimball standing next to the perpetual trophy for the photos. In A Fleet it was Len Bose. This award certainly will be a cherished accomplishment of mine in the years to come.

Next, we have the Rain or Shine Trophy for the best attendance in a sailing season. Tom Corkett’s name was placed on the perpetual; I was the bridesmaid finishing in third place was Anne and Ed Kimball. We also awarded a Grandmaster award received by the top finisher in fleet championships in A and B divisions for participants over the age of 65. This year’s B Fleet recipients were Ed Kimball over A Fleet’s Kurt Wiese, as both Annes preferred not to be noticed on this award.

The top award of the night is the Arthur B Strock Service Award presented to the person who has performed outstanding service for the Harbor 20 Fleet. This year’s esteemed winner was Chris Hill, who has gone the extra mile for the fleet as the measurer and promoter of true sportsmanship. A Bravo/Zulu for a job well done, Chris!

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The County Model Sailing Club at William R. Mason Regional Park in Irvine has four different types of remote-control sailboats. I am making this award up, so let’s call it the Orange County Model Sailor of the Year award. This year, this award would be presented to Jim Sears for his results in the Dragon Flight 95 and Volvo 70 fleets. Sears has improved his consistency within these fleets this season, and we have high hopes for him in this year’s Dragon Flight 95 National Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas, taking place the first weekend of December.

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.