Ever since the Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship Trophy was completed in 2011 it never really took it’s place on display upstairs in the club house at Fishing Bay Yacht Club among the other trophies there. Primarily because it was too heavy to hang and there was no suitable place to prop it up and thus it lacked a stand. So my Dad and I recently made folding legs for the trophy using some of the left over wood from the original project. Now the trophy is on display in the club house just a few feet from where the old trophy used to hang next to the TV.
The Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship has been sailed by Laser sailors over the age of 35 since 1981. In the early years of the regatta Alain Vincey had beautiful plates made that were given to the competitors as prizes. The last of these plates was made into a perpetual trophy for the regatta. About 10 years ago the trophy fell over, and the ceramic plate was shattered. The plate was painstakingly repaired and has hung in the clubhouse ever since.
As great of a trophy as it was, I wanted to be sure the plate would be protected and that the regatta would have a trophy that would last for years to come. With those goals in mind, I planned a trophy that looks like a serving tray with sides that would protect the plate mounted to it. And although I’m not yet of age to sail in Masters regattas, I made sure there would enough room for winners to cover well past the time that I ‘age out’ of Laser masters sailing.
The trophy was built at the beginning of October out of 13 pieces of 3/4″ mahogany.
Next chocks were made to hold the plate in place and the plaques were aligned and drilled.
The trophy was then finished in a natural glossy finish.
Then the rope border was mounted.
Finally the plate and plaques were mounted to complete the trophy.
Winners at the 30th Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship on October 15-16, 2011.
More pictures of the trophy and the build process can be seen here.
I want to thank my father, Stan, for his help and tools. And thanks to Alain Vincey for the kicking off the regatta years ago and providing the plate and original trophy for it.
District 11 has a new perpetual trophy to honor the Laser Radial District 11 Champions. It was built around the original Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy and features the names of the 7 champions we’ve had so far.
Original District 11 Championship Trophy
The original Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy was built in 1979 by Mike Waters using a relief of a Laser created by his wife, Jane Waters. Over the years this trophy was lost to time and in the mid-1990’s a new Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy was created. The original trophy was found about 5 years ago and the champions listed on it were used to populate the new trophy going back to 1972.
The original trophy was given to me when I became District Secretary and I thought it was a shame not to put such a nice piece of art to use and to loose a valuable contribution to our District. We’ve started to have a consistent showing of Radials at our District Championship. I thought – why not recognize Laser Radial champions and give Radials a trophy to sail for.
Trophy plan
The new Laser Radial District 11 trophy was designed to use the relief in the original trophy. Since Mike was a boat builder and used the best boat-building adhesives to affix the relief to the original board, it would have been too difficult to separate the relief from the board without breaking it. So the new trophy had to be built around it.
The new trophy would feature the relief in the center, a plaque with the name of the trophy at the top, room for the 7 known Laser Radial District 11 Champions and room for the next 36.
Construction of the trophy began at the end of August. First the old board was cut away around the relief. Then mahogany boards were joined and a hole cut for the relief.
Next a groove was routed around the edge and a frame was added to cover the threshold between the new wood and the old board that the relief was affixed to.
Then the trophy was polyurethaned and the plaques were mounted to it.
The final touch was adding the rope to complete the trophy.
More pictures of the trophy and the build process can be seen here.
I want to thank my father, Stan, for his help and tools. I also want to thank Mike Waters and his wife for creating the original trophy and for the fleets and individuals who have helped fund the materials to build the trophy.
