US SAILING's National One-Design Awards announced

by US SAILING Media on 17 Nov 2008 More than 100 one-design sailors and class and fleet leaders traveled from across the country to Atlanta Yacht Club in Acworth, Ga., last weekend to attend US SAILING's One-Design Sailing Symposium. The over 100 attendees represented more than 30 one-design classes and came from over 20 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The event featured many seminars and workshops, including presentations by sailing experts Dave Perry, Greg Fisher, Craig Leweck, and many more.

Organized annually by US SAILING, the Symposium is geared towards one-design sailors who are interested in keeping the one-design sector of the sport thriving and growing and in improving their own sailing skills.

The three days of the Symposium, which ran from November 16-18, were filled with educational seminars, keynote presentations and numerous networking opportunities for all participants. The event kicked off on Friday, November 14, with a Race Management Seminar. Other Symposium sessions covered a wide range of topics, including small boat safety, insurance, best practices for measurement, sponsorship, coordinating event registration and results, and much more. Racing rules expert Dave Perry was one of the many highlights of the Symposium, speaking at a US SAILING Mount Gay Rum Speaker Series on 'Winning Moves in One Designs' - improving tactical skills - and at a US SAILING Racing Rules Seminar presented by North U. The Symposium also included a series of 'Go Fast' seminars taught by Skip Dieball, Mike Ingham, and Greg Fisher, designed to help one-design sailors improve their sailing skills.

National One-Design Award Winners Announced
In addition to seminars and workshops, US SAILING presented several awards to one-design sailors and organizations:

One-Design Service Award: Paul White
Paul White of Indianapolis, Ind., was taken by surprise on Sunday morning when he was presented with the US SAILING One-Design Service Award after a standing ovation. Secretary for Y-Flyer Fleet #8 for eighteen years, White has managed the finances, organized meetings, maintained measurements and certificate records, while also actively buying and selling boats to help grow the fleet. He has held every office including commodore at his club, the Indianapolis Sailing Association, where he has also served as chair of a number of committees and as principal race officer for numerous regattas. White is also an accomplished sailor: he and his wife Kay won the Y-Flyer International Championship earlier this year. In 33 years, White has not missed a single Y-Flyer event and will participate in his 200th consecutive regatta next spring.


One-Design Leadership Award: Bill Brosius
Bill Brosius of Olympia, Wash., received the national One-Design Leadership Award. Brosius founded and built the Budd Inlet Star Fleet at the South Sound Sailing Society (Wash.). When Brosius, who had been very active in the Corinthian Star Fleet of Tacoma, moved to Olympia (Wash.), he located five Star boats, convinced his new club mates to purchase them and helped to ready them for racing. His dedication to the growth of the fleet has been marked by his assistance to others, particularly to younger racers, by helping them to improve their sailing skills. He continues to locate older Star boats, arranges transportation and has even built a shop just to work on them, charging boat owners only for the cost of materials. In 2006, the Budd Inlet Star Fleet joined the ISCYRA. Today, the Budd Inlet Fleet is 25 boats strong and growing, making it one of the largest Star fleets on the West Coast.


One-Design Club of the Year: Clear Lake Yacht Club
Clear Lake Yacht Club in Clear Lake, Iowa, has received the One-Design Club of the Year award. The Club is run entirely by volunteers and offers a variety of racing events for numerous one-design classes including Hobie 16, Optimist, E, C, MC and X classes as well as a sailing school, with US SAILING certified programs for both youth and adults. The Club consistently operates with a positive cash flow enabling them to fund regattas, youth programs and scholarships as well as make charitable donations. Each year, the Club has seen increases in every class due to the visibility of the club in the community and the success of the sailing school converting students to lifelong sailors. Clear Lake Yacht Club has become a centerpiece of the Iowa community, not typically thought to be a sailing region, by creating a fun, successful, social, one-design sailing organization run solely by dedicated volunteers for the past 75 years.

One-Design Regatta: Hobie Cat 40th Anniversary Regatta
The One-Design Regatta went to the Hobie Cat 40th Anniversary Regatta (held at Dana Point, Calif., by Hobie Fleet #4 and organized by James Orkins of San Diego, Calif. The event, held October 3-5, was an expansive commemorative event, with approximately 110 boats racing in Hobie 14s, 16s (A,B,C Fleets), 17s, 18s, 20s and Tigers. Separate courses were set up for junior racing in Hobie Holders and a Hobie Island Adventures (a hybrid kayak-sailing trimaran) exhibition. Over 500 people attended the celebration with National and World champions coming from as far away as Australia to participate. The three-day regatta featured programs for everyone ranging from 'town-hall' discussions with Hobie sailing legends Hobie Alter, Sr., Wayne Schafer and Sandy Banks to a children's coloring contest hosted by world-renowned marine life artist Wyland. The regatta was a success on many levels, involving the local community with a donation of event proceeds going to a local non-profit organization. Many participants ranked this event as 'the best regatta ever.'

One-Design Creativity Award: Max Hinneberg
Max Hinneberg of Aurora, Colo., received the One-Design Creativity Award. For the past 26 years, Hinneberg has served as chair of 'Hobie Fun Days', an event created to bring the pleasure of sailing to patients at Craig Hospital (Englewood, Colo.) who have experienced debilitating brain and spinal cord injuries. Since 1986, Hinneberg has been instrumental in coordinating sailors, hospital staff and volunteers to provide a fun day of sailing for hundreds of patients while raising thousands of dollars to support the hospital's therapeutic and recreational activities. Hinneberg's hard work in the challenging task of organizing Hobie Fun Day has elevated the Fleet and enhanced the lives of people truly in need through the simple pleasure of sailing.

For more information on the 2008 One-Design Sailing Symposium, please visit www.ussailing.org/odcc. Plans are in the works for the 2009 One-Design Sailing Symposium, most likely to be held in San Diego, Calif., in the fall.

www.ussailing.org.