The Sailing Club’s annual Prize Giving Ceremony was held on Saturday 28th November.
The clubhouse filled well before the scheduled 8pm start and the evening began with the Commodore’s Welcome and the traditional photograph slideshow containing the highlights of the 2015 sailing season.
This year the club was delighted to welcome the Penzance Town Mayor, David Nebesnuick to present the Cruiser and Dinghy Awards alongside the Sailing Club’s new Commodore Dean Mooney.
In the Laser fleet, junior Kian Andrews won the Monday, Thursday and Combined Series receiving the Woodpecker Cup, Mayors Cup, Penzance 420 Cup and the overall Laser Shield. Laser sailor Derek Jones won the Weekend Series, receiving the Kittiwake Cup.
Mirror sailor Eric Taylor added to his long list of awards, winning the Monday, Thursday, Combined, Saturday and Lemon Hart Trophies. Eric has continued his tradition this year – training young crews to be the next generation of sailors. This year his winning crews were Lloyd Williams, Jenna Dyer and Aidan Mooney. Eric was also awarded the Ancient Mariner Trophy (aged over 50 from any fleet)
Amongst the Cruisers there were also some multiple winners. In the Ryeman Fleet, Alan Spencer-Smith and Dean Mooney (Laid Back) yet again needed to enlist the help of a trailer to carry their huge trophy haul of: The Emerson Cup (1st Evening 1),1st Evening Overall, the Penzance Cup (1st Middle Distance), the Tolcarne Cup (1st Tolcarne Race). Chris Matthews (Riff Raff) won the Cole Cup (1st Evening 2) and a huge cheer erupted as Dave Barker (Free Spirit) was awarded the Logan Rock Trophy (1st Logan Rock Race)
In the IRC Fleet, Joe Poynton (Bewitched) won the Daruma Cup (1st Evening 1). Chris Matthews (Riff Raff) won the Direct Textiles Cup (1st Evening 2) and the Overall Evening Trophy (Poynton, Bradbury, Wynter Cup).
In the dinghy Handicap Fleet, Liz Munro with crew Bern Irwin (RS200) won the Monday Series receiving the Solidworks Trophy. Jeremy Gilbert won the Thursday (Driveworks Trophy) and the Combined Series (Combined Cup) with crew Joe Smith again in the RS200.
In the Enterprise Fleet, Jeremy Williams with crew Diane Stephens won the Even Keel Cup (1st Combined Series) and Burt’s Trophy (1st Pursuit Series). Tom Kliskey with a variety of crews won the Janet Lorraine Cup (1st Monday Series), the Wright Trophy (1st Weekend Series) and with crew Simon Lees the Frank James Trophy (1st Thursday Series). Tom and Simon also won the St Justin Enterprise Trophy (1st overall Enterprise winner).
For the cruisers, Paul Kneebone (Pepsi) was first in the Pursuit and Afternoon Series being awarded with the Penzance Shield. Pepsi also received; 1st Evening 1, 1st Evening 2 and 1st Evening Overall in the Cressar Fleet.
In the Offshore Series, David Williams (Honey Trap) won the St Ives to Penzance Race (Swordfish Cup), Porthleven Race (Lady Hamilton Cup) and the Arthur Kirby Trophy (1st Coast to Coast). Joe Poynton (Bewitched) received the Camilla House Trophy for winning the Mullion Race. Again, Allen Spencer-Smith and Dean Mooney (Laid Back) added to their collection winning; the Wolf Rock Trophy,the Curlew Trophy (1st Four Cardinals), the Chalice Trophy (1st Runnelstone), Master Mariner Trophy (1st Falmouth) and for 1st Offshore Overall – the Dunstan Cup.
Laid Back was also awarded the Cornish Mead Trophy (Champion Cruiser) and Dean himself was also presented with the esteemed Quackers Trophy for the most races sailed in any boat this year – with 60 sails across both the cruiser and dinghy fleets!
The presentation then moved onto the Club awards:
The Andy Schulof Trophy (Junior Student of the Year) was awarded to Connor Trewhella and the Andy Schulof Trophy (Adult Student of the Year) to Sally Booth.
The Franklyn Pool Cadet Cup (Leading Under 18 Helm in Series Races) was presented to Kian Andrews and the Rudder Trophy for the most improved helm junior George Schmidt.
There were a variety of awards for those who have given their time throughout the year. The Rescue Boat Award (Bean Can Trophy) was presented to Jeremy Stephens.
Officer of the Day Award: This year 54 series races were sailed over the summer and 25 of these were covered by just two people – Adrian Symons (11 occasions) and Katherine Sharp receiving the Race Officer Tankard for her 14 duties.
There were additional club trophies – provided with good humour – “Most Spectacular Capsize” being awarded to Jeremy Gilbert and the “Golden Pump” award to James Sadler.
Each year, the final two prestigious awards are decided and presented by the Commodore, with a brief speech outlining his decision:
The “Frel Trophy for Services to the Club” was awarded to John Matthews. Unfortunately John was not present to receive his award, however the past Commodore Jeremy Gilbert had summarized the many reasons as to why he is such a deserving winner at the earlier Annual General Meeting. An ex-Commodore himself, John has been the Project Coordinator for the extensive clubhouse refurbishment that has occurred in the last two years. He has worked tirelessly in his own time, amassing over 700 hours on the project, with no acceptance of any remuneration. In addition to the Frel Trophy, John has also been made well-deserved Honorary Member of Penzance Sailing Club.
The “Penzance Youth Award for Under 18 Services to the Club” was awarded to a junior, Joe Smith, as the Commodore announced, “alongside regular sailing, Joe has willingly done more than his fair share of rescue boat duties, helped with the training on the water and has signed up to train as a RYA Assistant Instructor next year. He is a lively member of the very important junior group and also popular among the older members where he frequently volunteers his help before he is even asked. He is a great all-rounder and an asset to the club.”
All prize winners were also awarded with beautiful miniature dinghies courtesy of St Justin. The evening ended with a brief speech regarding the successful and enjoyable 2015 sailing season and emphasizing that members can now look forward to the 2016 season with eager anticipation!
