Fleet 1 had a great Awards / Rally / BBQ on Sunday at the Tiburon Yacht Club. The weather cooperated and a fun race got off followed by kids activities, open bar, picnic Tri Tip and lots of fun awards, CD slide shows, season video, appreciation awards and season awards. 

Lots of folks made it (over 120), but lots of boats were not represented due to short notice, location, weather or work. As a result, a lot of stuff is in my truck. This email is to let everyone know who got stuff and what happened. Hopefully we can schedule a time where we can show the video and people can pick up their loot. When we pick a time and place, be sure to have a boat rep there, otherwise the awards will be recycled for next year. 

There was an emphasis on starting the awards at 3:30 and finishing at 5:00. We started at 3:35 and finished at 4:58. However, lots of details were omitted, so they are listed below.

A summary follows:
Main Message from Fleet Captain Eden Kim:

We are here to celebrate our season, honor our champions, thank our volunteers and supporters, and to have a good time. However, we are also here to recognize the history and culture of our fleet, to recognize past fleet captains, champions and supporters and to try and preserve and pass on the traditions of the fleet. We did a lot of good things this year because of the work of a lot of volunteers. However, none of this would have been possible if those who came before us had not done the work that they did. That allowed us to have the platform to have the great season we had. What we do now and next year will define the experience those will have in the future. So take ownership and put back in, it will only be as good as you make it. Its also up to us to be sure that all the blank spots on the perpetual trophy get filled. We know who won and we respect their skills. But I want to really thank the volunteers who gave their time and efforts and did all the real work to make it all happen.

1. New Perpetual Trophy

A really neat perpetual trophy was acquired. It is a crystal cup on a mahogany base that has 4 sides with 10 plaques each. The past 10 winners and this years Good Timin take up 11 spots. That leaves 29 more spots for you hopefuls. Also, past boat, owners and boat numbers were listed. Interestingly, hull 35 has won 6 out of 11 championships and was leading in another until she was sold by Thayer and Watts when they bought 268 (Juxtapose). Blackhawk 40 also previously won when owned by Art Ball. New deed requires owner of the New Perpetual Trophy to display it in their Yacht Club of registration and it will never be retired.

2. Top Ten

Season Champ Good Timin accepted a nice tall Crystal Vase for 1st. 2d Zuni and 4th Nantucket had no reps at the event. 3d Arbitrage and 5th Wind Dance accepted nice large crystal bowls. Each of the top five had the name of boat and owner inscribed. 1st was a tall vase, 2-5 were equal size large crystal bowls. 

Sixth through tenth place winners received smaller size crystal bowls with only the place inscribed. Tiburon, Aquavit, Orion, Blackhawk and Natural Blonde were the winners. Aquavit Tim Russell was also given a Rolex make up watch for the BBS. Tim is still asking the wrong question: Is it real or is it memorex? (Blackhawk was a no show.)

3. Most Improved / Sportsman / Outstanding Contribution - Crystal bowls (same size as 6-10) inscribed with award and winners name.

Bruce Stone of Arbitrage won Most Improved Boat for going from 8th to 3rd for the year and winning the Spring One Design and getting many bullets. 

Tom Coates of Charade was in close running for MIB, but won Sportsman. Excom had ruled it was okay for him to use his east coast boat in the last few regattas. But upon further reflection, Tom withdrew the boat from the season standings and scored only Charade. If he had stayed in, he would have been a top ten boat (I think 6th). As such, he got 20th. No Charade reps were present. 

Stuart Taylor of Larrikin won the Outstanding Contribution Award. This is not an individual award, but a boat award. On Larrikin, Stuart was a huge leader volunteer in running the massive measure in for the J105 North Americans. Esther was our assistant treasurer who collected the checks, balanced the books and paid the bills. Covahne Fahles was our tireless social coordinator. As a group, no other boat did as much for the fleet.

4. Hall of Fame - Glass Iceberg (6 inches tall by 5 inches wide on wood base)

Jaren Leet was awarded the 2003 Hall of Fame Inductee Award. This is the real Hall of Fame, not to be confused with the website Ha Ha Hall of Fame / Shame. The inaugural inductee was Don Trask last year for all of his organizing work. This year it went to Jaren for his tireless fleet work - fleet 1 captain in 2001, National President 2003, bringing NAs to SF in 03, creating the Masters, Reviving the Madcap, etc etc. Jaren was in New Zealand. He taped a thank you, but time was short and the quality was, well... we had a few. There were no reps of Irrational present.

5. Past Fleet Captains - same iceberg as Hall of fame

Jim Cascino, the first fleet captain, gave a 10 minute talk on the early days. No way can I capture the highlights in a paragraph. We will make a web page and I hope Jim will send in his thoughts. It was interesting stuff, the first match race, getting into the BBS, the cost of a new boat ($77K), selling it for more than he paid, who was there, the first NAs, and more and more. Thank you Jim. 

Sam Hock came over and accepted his Fleet Captain Award along with past captains Pat Benedict, Tom Kassburg, Dave Tambellini and Eden Kim. Absent were Dean Dietrich and Jaren Leet.

6. YRA Season - YRA burgees and Picture Trophies

Pat Benedict awarded the burgees and season awards. Pat won the overall. Pat has the details and will post them when we put up the web page. Bullet winners included Orion, Advantage3, Aquavit, Swede, Arbitrage.

7. Silver Bullet Club - 30.06 silver casings with "J105 Race Bullet" inscribed

Fleet Captain Eden Kim declared a new tradition (to last at least one day) where only winners of Championship Season races or Events would get a Silver bullet. Once you get one, that's it. No one else gets one, so the club should be small. Eden amended it to include past season champions after Ian Charles took one and Eden thought it appropriate. 

The inaugural holders of a silver bullet are: Good Timin (Chris/Phil/Dave); Zuni Bear (Rich/Shawn), Arbitrage (Bruce), Nantucket Sleighride (Peter), Tiburon (Steve), Aquavit (Tim), Charade (Tom), Natural Blonde (Rob/Dennis/Lambert), Jabberwocky (Brent) and Advantage3 (Pat). Only the driver of the race gets one. Also Ian, Art, Jim and Tom Thayer and Dick Watts get one. 

P.S. Dave Tambellini had the idea and gave me live 30.06 ammo which I had to replace with blanks. I guess you can't but live bullets in an engraving machine. 

8. Regatta Recognition Awards - Shot Glasses with J105 logo

These were awarded to the boats that got the Regatta Recognition Awards as listed on the website for outstanding performance in a regatta. The list included Arbitrage, Tiburon (SOD - 1st regatta win and regatta 2d i.e. breakthrough events), Natural Blonde (Ocean - only finisher), Memorial Day (Nirvana - 5th in race 4; Streaker - 4,3,4,15 for 6th in Regatta), SFYC (Charade - 7,5,9,5 for 5th in Regatta; Larrikin - 5,20,6,8 for 10th in Regatta; Jabberwocky - 58,8,9 for 11th), Aldo (Tiburon and Whisper for the NOT Duckship Award), YRA (Pat Benedict for best mono-hull finish in Eagle and 3 bullets in a row), NAs (Alchemy for getting a 3rd and a 6th, Stuart Taylor and Fleet 1 volunteers), NOOD (Masquerade - 2 bullets and a 3rd for 2nd in the event; Advantage 3 for a bullet, 5th and 6th for 9th in the event), and BBS (Masquerade - 2,1 and a 5; Orion - 13th; Jabberwocky - last bullet of the year, Wonder Walloping and Bald Eagles for good regatta performances).

9. Appreciation Awards - Icebergs  (4 inches tall by 3 inches wide)

WebCom - Ariel Poler (webmaster, message board); Glen Youngling (Photos), Cindy Surdez (scoring/database/updates), Guy Ritger (original web designer and hoster), Steve Podell (still does our email list even though not in the fleet), Dale Burchfield (hosts our site, contributes graphic help for free), Eden Kim (sparkplug).

Fleet Appreciation - Eugenie Russell (J concierge/season video filming); Vince Casalaina (professional video editing and contribution of additional J105 footage); Esther Taylor (Asst. Treasurer); Covahne Fahles (Social Coordinator - tide talk, mid season BBQ, Tiburon tavern night, annual BBQ), Steve Stroub (Social Chair, Tiburon Tavern night, protector donation for filming), Pat Benedict (YRA coordinator), StFYC RC (John Craig, Annika Leerson), SFYC RC (Matt Jones, Anne McCormick), Sail Cal (Don Trask - supplying J concierge, national ExCom work), Heather Flick (mid season BBQ), Kathy Frymer (Tiburon Tavern Night), Kristen Lane (kids stuff annual BBQ), Sean Svendson (annual dock party and give-aways), Jeff Thorpe (rules and tactics seminar), SYC (Tuesday night J105 series) and the TYC (Bill Hoeller, Susan Hoeller, Lesa Kinney, Steve Nims, Eric, and the other volunteers for hosting such a wonderful event).

10. Appreciation awards and ha ha 's - Pilsner Glasses & shot glasses with J105 Logo 

These were not formally awarded but the result is that each boat owner and several crew will have pilsner glasses. Nirvana got a shot glass for winning the fun race (see below), JT Hansen Frisky got one for letting us use his dock, Rob Cooper's 2 year old daughter got one for being the youngest driver in the fun race, LuLu got one for brand new boat (Don Wieneke bought Horseplay 400), etc as you can see. Left over glasses will be used for next years regatta recognition awards.

11. Season CD Slide show 

Produced by Ariel Poler from website pictures from Chris Ray, Glenn Youngling and Eden Kim, this was shown on the big screen and a copy is available to each owner.

12. Individual Boat Photo Certificates

Eden Kim took pictures from Bob Laws PCC photos and made individualized photo certificates for each boat that attended and placed in the top 20 or so. Also, others have been made. If you want one, call him to see if there is one or one can be made up. The photos are from Bob Law and can buy the full resolution images or prints by contacting him at rflaw@cox-internet.com or 208-4613. $25 each, $10 for dups.

13. Season Video

Wow! Thank you Vince. After collecting a season of tape, Eden reduced it from 15 hours to 1 hour. Vince agreed to do a professional edit and production. He is largely getting paid if we buy copies. He produced an awesome 12 minute video. It is available for $25. email whisper355@comcast.net if you want one. We will probably gather to view it and hopefully distribute uncollected awards.

14. 2004 Excom

Fleet Captain for 2004: Randy Paul. Other ExCom Members: Stuart Taylor, Treasurer; Tom Struttmann, Secretary; Chris Perkins, Race & Comp Chair; Eden Kim, Past Captain; Bruce Stone, At Large; Rob Cooper, At Large; Don Trask, Fleet Measurer.

15. Fun Race

Eight Boats showed up for the Rally and rafted off of JT Hansen’s (Frisky 432) dock. Race and Competition Chair Phil Perkins set the course for a downwind start, beat and downwind finish. Each skipper could keep only 1 regular crew and all other crew were divided amongst the boats (except for Frisky who fielded an all TYC crew). Whisper dropped out to provide full crew complements. Fleet Captain Eden Kim was the on the water Jury in the Whisper Protector and could hand out mandatory 360 turns and otherwise change the course and rules as appropriate. Several children were on board Good Timin and Natural Blonde. Nirvana sailed with Raja, his wife and two children (6 months and 2 years old) and one other hand. The goal was to have a good time.

The race got off at 1:05 pm (really) and the boats ran down to the birdcage. Alchemy had problems and a very late set. The other 6 boats rounded in a close group and Natural Blonde edged out in front. First 360 assigned to Natural Blonde. Tiburon took over the lead and legged out…. 2d 360 to Tiburon. Walloping Swede smelled the front, but you guessed it. 360. Good Timin went inside and got a favorable shift….4th 360 to Good Timin. Frisky now lead Natural Blonde, Good Timin and Tiburon beating to the top mark. 360 to Frisky expecting her to gibe, she tacked from a leeward position and skimmed under the bow of Natural Blonde … Nice move.

The boats rounded in a cluster, Natural Blonde just ahead of Good Timin, Joy Ride in 6th…. Alchemy somewhere down the course. Jury allowed Alchemy to bear away and set (without going to the mark) once the lead boat passed its stern. As a result, Alchemy squeezed into first. With 100 yards left and all boats on port gibe pointing at the line, Alchemy was assessed a 360. Halfway through, on starboard gybe, she took out Joyride (because she could) and pinned her out on starboard as they both went off to Richmond as the rest of the fleet pressed to the line in a close group. 

At a photo finish, Good Timin was first across the line followed by Nirvana and the rest within 30 seconds of each other. Joyride got back ahead of Alchemy a minute later. 

However, at the awards ceremony, Fleet Captain and Jury King Eden Kim declared the existence of a secret rating formula. Based on corrected time, Good Timin was deemed DFL, tied with everyone else except Nirvana who was awarded the bullet based on being the only boat to not use a spinnaker and for having the youngest crew. Raja Singh proudly accepted a shot glass with the Fleet 1 logo as his award. 

16. BBQ / Open Bar / Kids

The menu, meal tickets, coordination and collection went off smoothly primarily due to the tireless efforts of the Fleet 1 social coordinator Covahne Fahles (Larrikin 337) who diligently manned the door with Julia Oberbauer (Arbitrage 112). Huge thanks to Covahne for her yearlong work and big thanks to Julia for helping out whenever needed. The TYC went overboard and prepared a fantastic event. The low cost of admission included the meal and an open bar. Racers immediately retired to the bar while the kids took up crafts and games organized and supplied by Kristen Lane (Walloping Swede 157). Thank You Kristen. Meanwhile, Fleet Webmaster Ariel Poler ran the Fleet 1 slide show from a CD that he put together from pictures from Glen Youngling (Hazardous Waste 388), Chris Ray (StFYC) and Eden Kim (Whisper 355). Thank you Ariel and all the photographers.

17. TYC Thanks

Due to the iffy weather, the volunteers cooked tri tip, salad and desert in the kitchen and served us on rows of folding tables. The food was wonderful and there was an open bar. Groups of folks sat interspersed with old and new friends. A huge thanks to Lesa Kinney and her group for shopping, cooking, serving and cleaning. What GREAT hospitality. The table settings even had boats with sails that said J105 119 (meaning the date of the event Nov 9). Thank You Lesa and the TYC volunteers.

18. Final Thoughts 

It was a privilege to serve as your fleet captain. No way I could have envisioned what was involved, but it was truly a labor of love. Making the individualized photo certificates let me relive on the water moments and to appreciate each boat that campaigns to make this fleet happen. Remember, there is no top ten if there aren't 11 through whatever. Lots of good things happened this year. Our fleet was truly fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteers who did all the real work. You know who you are. I want to thank everyone for what they did and for putting up with me. I know I provided lots of energy and direction, but as Phil Perkins often says, "I will tell Eden what I am willing to do and then he will tell me what he wants me to do." But in the end, thank God for Phil Perkins. His calm, reflective, insightful and knowledgeable experience and his good people skills and patience was the perfect balance to me. Phil (and Jeff Litfin) provided the yacht racing guidance that kept the racing season going. The multitudes kept the communication and social season going. Thanks to all the volunteers who actually did what I asked. I was smart enough to get out of the way once they took ownership and the results are self evident. I know when I have gone to the well enough when I hear the words "I really do have a life, Eden."

So it was a really great year, one that I learned a lot about the fleet, some really good people and about myself. Its about caring, volunteering and taking ownership. When I started this job, I just wanted to be sure to leave it in better shape than when I took it. Now that its over, as Teddy Roosevelt said, "I can't believe this pain in the ass job is over so soon." Let's keep the SF J105 Fleet 1 the premier 1 Design fleet and pass it along in better shape than we found it.

Sincerely Eden Kim
Fleet Captain 2003