Harbor Report: Award nights honor the best on the harbor

If I were to tell you it is time to pull out my Christmas Reyn Spooners, what would be the first thing you’d think of?

I hope it wouldn’t be a fat old bald guy with some dorky Hawaiian shirt and worn out Topsiders. But if you have been reading my column for a long time, you would surely know it means it is time for my review of the best of 2015 on the harbor.

This is the time of year I start putting my race calendar together for 2016 and my choices come down to which awards I want my name on a year from now. For me, half the fun is looking over the awards’ past recipients.

One of the awards I really want to get my name on is the Newport Beach High Point Series trophy. For the third year in a row, the Richley family, sailing the Choate 48 Amante, will be storing this award at the Lido Isle Yacht Club. If some other team does not win this award soon, this big crystal bowl will get stuck to the glass in the club’s trophy case.

Again we had a great year to remember at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. Every award ceremony feels as fun as the previous year. I pay close attention to the junior sailor awards because it will not be long before we need some young crew aboard our boat. These are the sailors who will be showing up soon on the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet or Harbor 20 race course.

Sitting at our table at the ceremony was Danielle Ahir, who received the Orange County Woman Ocean Racing award for the most promising female junior sailor. It’s always encouraging to witness a junior sailor with such great passion for our sport. Ahir made it to our table just before the awards started, after a long day of racing for her high school sailing team.

This year’s Sabot National champion Jake Mayol was present taking home the Junior of The Year award along with his brother Max, who won the Junior Sportsmanship Trophy. Another prestigious award is the Jon Pinckey Perpetual for Outstanding Racing Record, which went to Justin Coburn.

Derek Pickell took home the Commodore Byrne Perpetual for Outstanding CFJ Skipper. Every good skipper has an even better crew. This year that was Catherine Webb winning the Commodore Montgomery Perpetual for outstanding CFJ Crew.

Representing us older folks, my good friend Dan “DR” Rossen won the Most Active Sailor award. Not sure how he beat me — it must have been the Farr 40 Worlds and the Saint Francis Yacht Clubs Big Boat Series. We both sailed the Transpac race to Hawaii and I did the Cabo San Lucas. Our phone conversation the following day after the awards ceremony reminded me of the seagulls in “Finding Nemo”: “Mine, mine.”

My good friend Peter Haynes brought home the Maricia Holyoke Perpetual for Outstanding Service to Race Committee. I was fortunate to come home with the award I had my eyes on last year, the Gaudio One Design Champion for sailing in the Harbor 20 fleet.

The big award at Bahia Corinthian is the Elmer Carvey Memorial — until 1982 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 and Peter Haynes. The list reads on and on and includes Newport’s best yachtsmen. This year’s recipient was Bill McNamara for all his race committee work.

Harbor 20 Fleet 1 awards night falls on Dec. 4 at the Lido Isle Yacht Club. The most prestigious award given is the Arthur B Strock Service Award, given to the members who have performed outstanding service to the fleet. This award is kept a surprise until the ceremony.

Gary Throne won the “Rain or Shine” award for sailing in the most races in the 2015 season with 75.

The fleet’s High Point awards are given out in A, B and C fleet to sailors with the best total score in their respective fleets. This year in C fleet Michael Volk will take home the pickle dish along with Mark Hurwitz in B fleet and Kurt Wise in A.

The Phylliss Rawlins Drayton Trophy will be presented to the women finishers in our fleet championships in A, B and C divisions. This year in C was Kirsten Munser; B, Mariah Geissman; and in A, Gale Pinckey.

The fleet’s Grand Master trophy is awarded to the highest-placing skipper over the age of 65 during our fleet championships. This year Argyle Campbell won in A fleet, in B fleet it was Tom Corkett, and Richard Somers won the award in C fleet.

Our last award is the First Mate given to the highest placing couples in the fleet championships. In A fleet, Gale and Jon Pinckey will bring home the award along with Mariah and Daniel Geissman sailing in B fleet this year.

I have to give a big shoutout to the Lido Isle club for supporting our fleet each and every year.

Sea ya.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist for the Daily Pilot.