At US SAILING’s 2011 One-Design Sailing Symposium, presented by Gowrie Group and hosted by Bay Head Yacht Club in Bay Head, NJ, five awards were presented to recognize outstanding individual and organizational achievements in one-design sailing.
The Heineken High Performance Dinghy Open (HPDO) won the Regatta Award. Justin Scott (Greenwich, CT) of the Viper 640 class won the Leadership Award. Receiving the John H. Gardiner, Jr. Trophy for Service Award was Gene Ferguson (Lake Worth, TX) of the Catalina 22 class. The North Cape Yacht Club (LaSalle, MI) received the Club Award, while SailX, an interactive sailing website, won this year’s Creativity Award.
The Heineken HPDO, hosted annually by American Yacht Club in Rye, NY on Columbus Day weekend, is one of the premier multi-class regattas for trailerable one-designs in North America, attracting dinghy, skiff, sportboat, hydrofoil and multihull sailors from around the world. Co-chairs and co-founders John Wyles and Carina McCabe have run the HPDO seamlessly since 2008.
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This year, against declining regatta attendance around the country, the Heineken HPDO set a new record with 125 boats. Representing American YC at the awards ceremony were Commodore Duncan Hennes, Carina McCabe and John Wyles. “The regatta is fun and is adored by its participants,” stated Justin Scott, Founding Class President of the Viper 640 Association.
Scott won the 2011 Leadership award for individual initiative, enthusiasm, organizing ability and leadership in creating an outstanding one-design fleet building program. Thanks to Scott’s leadership, the Viper 640 class is among the fastest growing three-person sport classes in North America, with hundreds of teams participating locally and nationally. In 2011, the Viper fleet grew by 45 boats, an increase of nearly a third.
