The Budd Inlet Star Fleet and the South Sound Sailing Society nominated Bill Brosius for the U. S. Sailing Association One-Design Leadership Award. It is one of five one-design awards the USSA gives out annually to recognize outstanding contributions to one-design leadership. The awards are to “highlight role models of creative leadership in one-design sailing.” The Leadership Award is “in recognition of individual initiative, enthusiasm, organizing ability, and leadership in creating the one-design fleet building program of the year.”
U.S. Sailing announced the winner at their annual meeting in Atlanta. As he was not there to receive it, SSSS presented the award to Bill Brosius at our January Meeting on the thirteenth. We invited Bill Buchan to present the award, but he had to bow out for medical reasons. Instead he sent a letter. We read it to the assembly and played the PowerPoint show sent with the nominating letter, and which was played at the USSA meeting.
Congratulations to Bill!!
Photos of the ceremony, by Don Waterhouse
Nomination, submitted December 2007
Nominating letter (must have Word on your computer).
Nominating slide show (must have PowerPoint on your computer). Left click to advance slide.
If using IE, right click and choose Full Screen
Steve Worcester, Star 6932
What I would like to pass on to Bill and the crowd in attendance tonight, is that what Bill is doing is extremely important to all One-Design sailing. The Star Class, for instance, looks quite strong when you read the results of the major regattas, but when you take a look at the local Fleets, there is a real lack of turnout. A large number of what we might call Top of the Line skippers and crews don’t even sail in their own Fleets. It’s all about the Olympics and World’s Championships. Especially in Europe those events are what bring in the funding for the various National Sailing Teams, which in turn has created this chain of events.
The basic structure of what Bill is creating in your Fleet is demonstrating that to have a good sailing experience in a wonderful racing yacht like the Star, doesn’t necessarily need to be as costly as what is generally regarded to be the price of a competitive boat.
As for the fact that your boats are kept in the water, I would like to add, that, in my early trips to the mid-west and the East Coast in the 1950’s and 60’s, many boats had anti-fouling bottom paint on their hulls as they were wet-sailed. I can tell you they didn’t give anything away as far as performance was concerned. Even today it is widely accepted that, in the Etchells Class for instance, in order for a Fleet to grow it needs to be kept in the water. What I am trying to say, is that Bill is on the right track and is doing the “good job” that not enough people are doing.
Again Bill, you are doing a wonderful for the sailors in your immediate area as well as well as for sailors all across the country by showing what can be done. I know very well that what you do is hard work, but I have a feeling that you don’t look at it as “work”, you should be very proud.
Congratulations for a job well done, you certainly deserve the honor that is being bestowed upon you tonight.
Bill Buchan