Wednesday Night Racers saluted the end of their 2011 Miles River sailing season last night with tables full of finger food, oysters on the half shell and trophies for winners, losers and fancy dressers.
Mariana Lesher, head of the steering committee that runs the weekly, round-the-buoys races off St. Michaels each year, began the awards presentation by giving Principal Race Officer Marshall Patterson a custom-made ditty bag to hold all of the electronics, flags, whistles and horns needed to run a good race. The bag was made from an old sail off the Edmee S., the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s classic log canoe that Patterson skippers.
Bob Flower, skipper of Lil’ Buddy, took first overall for the Star class and won the WNR High Point Trophy for the season.
The PF Flyers picked up the first-place mug for the PHRF A Fleet after driving their Phone to the best record in the low-handicap fleet. They beat out Team Rx by one point.
Team Rx sailed into second in their hot Javelin and made repeated trips to the front of the Van Lennep Auditorium at CBMM to pick up trophies, including the James H. Wilson Around the Island Memorial Race and the Houdini Award for tangling their spinnaker around the Gibson Flats day mark and getting free without tearing the sail.
Bob Larsen, captain of the Blew Bird, took a bow with his crew for winning the B Fleet series.
First-time racers were given Starter Awards that looked a lot like baby bottles full of rum. A Star racer received the Christopher Columbus Award for Finding New Land after he stuck his keel in the Ashcraft Osyter Bar and Chuck Wiley won the Hot and Cold Award for finishes that ranged from first to 13th.
Bob Wood, captain of the Resolute, won the Best Dressed Award for having the fanciest crew during the final race. Norm Brown, captain of the Pagan, who finished third again in the B Fleet, was honored with the Hugh Kabler Spirit of Sailing Award.
The WNR series this year ran 16 races with 32 boats in three classes.
Here is a full list of WNR trophies 2011_trophies
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