OkoumeFest 2011
The full recap
starts here. Read on for this year's award-winners.
Pamela Claggett has been a regular at OkoumeFest since her
Chesapeake 18 won a prize back
in 2006. Working from plans, she added a
CLC SailRig---with a lot of her own design flourishes.
It took a lot of carbon fiber (and metallic) reinforcement to supercharge the CLC SailRig. The result is as fast as it looks. All of the sailing controls lead right to the front of the cockpit.
Tweaks include electric running lights at the masthead. (A motorcycle battery in the hull powers that---and an electric bilge pump!)
Another view of the rig. Pamela sewed her own sails from laminated material.
While her kayak has won before, there was no way we were letting her off without some sort of prize for the custom rig. John gave Pamela the award for "Best Use of Electricity in a Kayak," which comprised a cheerful red pennant to stream from the masthead and a copy of "Chapman's Piloting" to help in navigation.
The judges---John Harris, David Fawley, and Nick Schade---were unanimous that Neil Meister's
Sea Island Sport deserved a prize. As John remarked, "It takes a lot of courage to paint the sapele plywood. But it works perfectly." It's hard to get across the Sea Island Sport's beautiful proportions in photos, but the paint really helps mask off the cool shapes. Neil won Runner Up Best Kayak.
Neil with his goodies.
Just a really neat design and beautiful execution. Like many first-time launches, the varnish was still drying on Paul's kayak.
Another view of the deck, with book-matched grain port and starboard. The mounting block is
ready for a compass.
Runner-Up Best Smallcraft went to David Peters and a Passagemaker Dinghy named "Woodstock." A very polished job of boatbuilding, David, congrats!
Shawn Collier's Passagemaker Dinghy was perfectly detailed and won Best Smallcraft. Sailing performance nut John Harris appreciated the NACA foils ground into the rudder and daggerboard.
The rope padding on the rail is a classy touch.
The judges were enthusiastically unanimous in awarding Dan Thaler's
Shearwater 17 Hybrid "Best in Show."
The selection of woods, the design, and the execution were all simply outstanding.
Check out Dan's flush wooden fittings for deck rigging!
Dan Thaler found an old
"thaler" coin, which he embedded behind the cockpit for good luck. It worked.
Dan receives his prizes and applause. Congrats, Dan, and thanks to EVERYONE who brought boats!
Hours later..after the staff carried about 50 CLC boats back up to the trailers, we headed out for seafood and "cold barley soup."
See you next year!