| Bob's Sportsmanship Trophy |
| This
prestigious award has been given since 1962. It is difficult to
comprehend the amount of work involved in planning, organizing,
shopping and preparing food for parties of 40+ people because it all
happens in the background under the quiet but careful guidance of this
person. She is that graceful swan gliding along seemingly effortlessly but paddling vigorously under the water. This HSA sailor has tirelessly performed the job of Vice Commodore, paying a lot of attention to detail while serving all of us for four (long) years. Our club members without question or exception love and thank this person for all she has done over the years for the social end of things, smiling all the while as she gracefully cooked meals, set tables, and welcomed everyone to our truly well-done and enjoyable functions! Finally, this sailor also carefully orchestrated HSA's social calendar reservations of not only the Hueston Room but also the Barn-n-Bunk for our very important gatherings. To formally recognize all the unsung administrative and culinary work she has accomplished, the 2025 Bob's Sportsmanship Award goes to Darrilynn Brewster! Thank you Darrilyn! |
| Frank Peters Memorial Sportsmanship Trophy |
| Awarded to a person for
sportsmanship exhibited over the competitive sailing season. The person for this award is always available to help with anything club related...literally anything. As our club's Jill of all trades, she can run the committee boat, the rescue boat, set marks, pull muddy anchors off the bottom of the lake, time races, raise & lower flags, and smile all the while! She welcomes new members with knowledge of how things should be done as well as tips on how to get around the marks faster! She is an amazing crew member no matter what boat she happens to be on, always remembering to talk and teach the finer points of Acton Lake sailing. As Deputy Dry Moorage Sheriff, she keeps the Sheriff in line, no small task, as they brush snow off boats in the winter and reattach tarps after big storms during the sailing season. She does this for ALL our boats in and around the dry moorage areas. She is a liaison between HSA and Miami University rowing/sailing membership, running the committee boat for their races and if that is not enough, you can find her also liaising with the Park Manager, rangers, and naturalists to strengthen and maintain that wonderful partnership. For everything from boat maintenance to food prep support activities to dry moorage sheriffing to park liason work, the 2025 Frank Peters Memorial Sportsmanship Trophy goes to Bobbie Bode. Well done, Bobbie! |
| Larry Johnson Challenger Trophy |
| Awarded to
the HSA member who constantly strives to improve their sailing skills,
demonstrates good sportsmanship, is active within the Hueston Sailing
Association and participates in a majority of the club’s
activities, while not qualifying for any other award, including any
sailing series place award for the year. The nominee for this trophy is always smiling and helping others during the launching process as well as when we return to the marina. He has quickly moved up the rankings in racing from finishing near the bottom to finishing 10th over all in the last, very competitive Sunfish regatta. He is encouraging the next generation of Acton Lake sailors by bringing his wife Adreinne, son Finnegan, and daughter Hadley to crew for him on both his Y-Flyer and his beautiful Victoria 18! To help hone his racing skills, this keen sailor regularly attends Mike Stratton's Wednesday evening classes and soaked in the wisdom of other numerous mentors. In recognition of the strides he has made up the rankings, good sportsmanship, and overall contribution to making Hueston Sailing Association the wonderful sailing club that everyone enjoys being a part of, the 2025 Larry L. Johnson Challenger trophy is awarded to David Parrott! Go, David! |
| Richard Saunders Memorial Trophy |
| Awarded
to HSA member who is 18 years of age or under on November 1st of the
current year who has the most overall enthusiasm for sailing activities
within and without HSA. This nomination is for one of HSA's Junior sailors and the Richard Saunders Memorial Trophy. This young sailor shows his enthusiasm for sailing and racing nearly every week coming to the park each Sunday to race with us either on a Sunfish or his family's cruiser sometimes singlehandedly! Many of us have personally witnessed him hanging behind during a race to encourage other young sailors who nearly capsized and were upset or a bit frightened, giving up his own possible placing in a race to ensure that others felt comfortable. His joyful voice echoing across the lake when a big gust hits his sail helps others stay calm when they are about to get hit as well, he reminds us all that this is fun! No worries! This year, our nominee also acted as an exemplar demonstrator for instructors Laura Peters and Amy Marks when they held a Sunfish class, taking his own boat out on the water and sailing alongside students. At the end every season, you can find him running the power washer, washing the committee and other boats as they come off the water demonstrating kindness and service for all. For all these enthusiastic achievements, the 2025 Richard Saunders Memorial Trophy goes to Noah Everaet. Way to go, Noah! |
| US Sailing Sportsmanship Trophy |
| (1) Person
who has done the most to improve or promote the sport of sailing on
Acton Lake or (2) who, through consistent example and exemplary
behavior on and off the race course, has contributed to and promoted
the sport of sailing on Acton Lake. The "Wednesday Night Sailors" have collectively nominated this person: We'd like to collectively nominate this venerable HSA sailor for the US Sailing Sportsmanship award for his dedication to promoting racing at the club. Each Wednesday, weather permitting, he pulls developing Sunfish racers together to help us improve our racing skills. He opens the session with a 'chalk talk' covering a key rule or tactic, then leads us through drills on the water to improve our starting, mark roundings and tactics. This has helped us be more confident on the race course. Additionally, over the winter he brought racers from across the fleets together to refresh everyone's understanding of rules and tactics. Finally, his weekly race reports help everyone look back at the races and reflect on how they can improve. This sailor exemplifies the leadership this US Sailing award recognizes. This sailor has cultivated and grown a thoughtful culture of racing. As relatively new sailors/racers (about 4 years), my wife and I have directly benefited from his racing instruction and guidance. He has helped me to begin to formulate strategy and tactics, understand rules, and the Starting Clinics have been invaluable. His practice and rules discussions have helped instill confidence and make us all-around better (and safer) racers. I'd like to add that the training & instruction that he has provided to some of the 'developing racers' has improved the quality of the racing on the lake. And has produced better results in those races among some of the 'developing racers'. In other words, the training sessions and instructions have borne results that could actually be measured by the better finishes by some of the newer racers on our lake. He has also helped to instill confidence among the newer racers through his patient training approach; which is harder to measure but can be seen in the level of enjoyment the newer racers are experiencing. And if that is not enough, he writes some of the most witty weekly race summaries in the entire midwest. The 2025 US Sailing Sportsmanship Award goes to Mike Stratton. Congrats, Mike! |