US Sailing’s Adult Director Betsy Alison was on hand for Saturday’s dinner at the 2024 Sonar World Championship at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT. After dinner, Betsy gave this special presentation:
I join you tonight to celebrate not only the high caliber of sailing at this Sonar World Championship, but to honor a long-standing member of the class and supporter of sailors and teams within the class. I am here on behalf of the President of US Sailing, Rich Jepsen, to make a special presentation.
The President’s Award is a special one. It is given by the Board President to people who have made exceptional contributions to the sport of sailing and US Sailing. The Board President has discretion in who receives the award.
In your midst, you have an individual who has dedicated countless hours to ensuring that all sailors are able to get out on the water and compete at a high level. In the early days of Paralympic Sailing, he started creating adaptations that enabled sailors to maximize their abilities on the water, so that they could compete on an equal footing with able bodied counterparts. Fondly known as the “Grandfather of Disabled Sailing,” he has spent more than 30 years fine tuning equipment, moving boats and equipment around the country and the world, jumping on board boats with sailors in need of a great teammate, and doing what needed to be done to support sailors at events at home and abroad. As a class measurer, he has worked tirelessly to ensure that the rules are followed for fair competition and worked with the Sonar class on the development of Appendix B in the Sonar class rules to accommodate the equipment needed by sailors with a disability to be able to regularly participate in the open sonar class events. On any given day, you might find Gene trailering boats up and down the coast, on a flight to Ireland to sail in Cork week or acting as bosun at an adaptive regatta anywhere in the country.
In US Sailing President Rich Jepsen’s words: “Gene Hinkel has lived a life of service for the sport we all love. His professional and volunteer careers are legendary, and he is universally loved and respected for his unselfish devotion to enabling all, regardless of physical ability, to compete. He is a perfect role model for all service minded sailors. And, after 80 years on this planet, Gene is still going strong.
On behalf of US Sailing and sailors of all capacities throughout the US, I hereby award Gene Hinkel the President’s Award for long, illustrious, and meritorious service to Para sailing.”
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