The Harman Hawkins Trophy is awarded annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions over a period of time to the sport of sailing in the field of Race Administration (Judging, Race Management, Umpires, Appeals, Racing Rules, Classification and Measurement and Equipment Inspection).
Selection of the recipient will be made by the Race Administration Committee from nominees sought by the Judges, Race Management, Umpires, Appeals, Racing Rules, Classifiers and Measurers and Equipment Inspectors committees. Nominations are open from January 1 through November 15. The first award was presented at the 2005 Spring Meeting in Newport, RI. The trophy is currently presented at the Association Awards Dinner at the National Conference in February.
The Trophy is named after Harman Hawkins (1919-2002), whose extraordinary involvement in sailing and numerous chairmanships of the Appeals, Judges and Legal Committees brought him many honors and awards, including US Sailing’s prestigious Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy. In his lifetime, Hawkins served as President of US Sailing, Commodore of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club and Storm Trysail Club and President of the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound.
Previous Award Recipients
Rob Overton – 2023 Winner
Rob Overton (Alameda, CA) has raced and cruised sailboats with his wife Andi for over 65 years, including campaigning a 470 in the 1976 Olympic Trials. They have won a variety of regional, national, and North American championships in Lasers and J/24s and have also sailed over 30,000 miles and crossed the Atlantic three times in their 50’ sloop.
In 1990, Dick Rose published an article soliciting suggestions to simplify the racing rules. Rob Overton responded with a 19-page, single-spaced document of suggested revisions – which led quickly to his membership on the US Sailing Racing Rules Committee. He has served on the rules committee for 34 years, and in that time he has overseen the publication of eight rulebooks and is the original author of more than a dozen rules now in The Racing Rules of Sailing.
Overton has also served on multiple World Sailing working parties to improve the mark room rule, as well as the World Sailing Team Race Rules working party, the Team Race Call Book working party, and the Rapid Response Call working party. He is a National Judge and an International Umpire and, as one friend wrote, he “always answers the phone and is never too busy to talk about the rules, do hearings, or go racing.”
Ted Everingham – 2022 Winner
Ted Everingham (Grosse Pointe Park, MI) is a US Sailing race officer, umpire, and judge and World Sailing international judge. Everingham has a history with US Sailing that spans 33 years: he has been a judge or umpire at virtually every US Sailing championship event – many more than once – a past chair of the US Sailing Judges Committee, a Race Official Instructor, a member of the review board, and was part of the team that developed the modern umpire program, one of the leading national umpire programs in the world.
Just in case that is not enough, he is also a Past Commodore of both Bayview Yacht Club and the Detroit Yacht Club.
Jim Tichenor – 2021 Winner
Jim Tichenor’s exceptional service to sailors spans more than 35 years. He has supported race officials at all levels by organizing and conducting seminars and training programs, and his dedication has led to the development of countless sailors as race officials.
He has been the Principal Race Officer or Chief Judge at more than 180 sailing events – the majority of them at the championship level.
Tichenor was one of the first certified judge and race officer instructors and remained active until his retirement. He organized and led more than 19 judge seminars and 38 race officer seminars, and he taught many of the currently-serving race officials before there was a formal training program.
He served on the appeals committees of the Texas Sailing Association and the Gulf Yachting Association for a combined total of over 50 years, and he was also a member of the US Sailing Board of Directors, and the Audit, Championships, Nominating, Olympic Sailing, PHRF and Offshore Championship Committees.
Not awarded in 2020
Dick Rose – 2019 Winner
Dick Rose (Seattle, WA) is well known to sailors and race officials, but because so much of his work is behind the scenes, it is difficult to appreciate how much he contributes and the impact he has had on sailing over the years.
Sarah Ashton, chair of the US Sailing Judges Committee, wrote in her nomination: “Dick has dedicated a substantial portion of his life to improving The Racing Rules of Sailing. He has been an active National Judge for 41 years. He will listen carefully to anyone’s question, ask questions if needed, then discuss his reasoning.”
Rose has been a member of both the US and World Sailing Racing Rules Committees and the US Appeals Committee for many years. As chair of the US rules committee, he was responsible for guiding the development of the “New Rules” during the landmark efforts to restructure and simplify the rules in 1997. Every four years, he prepares The Racing Rules of Sailing and US Prescriptions for publication by US Sailing, then participates in the painstaking task of proofreading the final version.
He has served as president of the North American Laser Class, a National Judge for US Sailing, and a Board member of The Sailing Foundation, and is well-known as the author of a column on the rules in Sailing World magazine since 1984. He has also been an active sailor in International 14s, Lasers, Snipes, Lightnings, Penguins and Laser 28s, among others.
Rose was awarded the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, US Sailing’s most prestigious award, in 2012.
Noel Field – 2018 Winner
Noel Field (Little Compton, RI) has been a supporter of competitive sailing since the early 1970s, when he began judging at college sailing regattas. Dave Perry recalls that “Noel was always very supportive of the collegiate events we ran at the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club and generously drove down and judged on many occasions…we were a club program with no adult in sight, so we appreciated his presence in many ways.”
Field served as Chief Judge at scores of events, including the Shields, 470, Interclub, 210 and Laser National Championships. He also served on the juries for the US Olympic Trials in 1976 with Gregg Bemis, in 1980 and in 2006, as well as the 1980 America’s Cup challenger trials. At every opportunity, he has mentored racing sailors and aspiring judges in the rules and best practices in hearings.
Field was a member of the Board of Directors of the North American Yacht Racing Union and the United States Yacht Racing Union from 1973 to 1978, including stints as Secretary-Treasurer and Vice President. He has served on US Sailing’s Review Board since 2003 and was appointed its first Sailor Ombudsman in 2004.
Even more notable than his impressive resume is the gracious and unassuming way he has shared his time and wisdom. He is truly an unsung hero — one of the essential volunteers who keep sailing events running smoothly.
Tom Duggan – 2017 Winner
Tom Duggan (E. Sandwich, MA) has a race management resume rivaled by few – he has run events at the very top of our sport, including the Olympics, Paralympics and the Volvo Ocean Race. He has conducted world, continental and national championship for Etchells, Sunfish, J/70s, Snipes, TP 52s, M-30s, Lasers and many others. A tireless proponent of sailor-friendly race management, Duggan has also taught more than 60 race management, rules and race committee training courses.
What truly sets Duggan apart is his attitude toward leadership. He is famous for developing high performing teams without being overbearing or arrogant. He leads with good grace, humor and humility, and has taught scores of others to do likewise.
And as one of his long-time students observed, “It doesn’t hurt that he’s married to an absolutely fantastic woman who supports him, and he has great hair.”
Tim Winger – 2016 Winner
Tim Winger (Lancaster, PA) developed a passion for the J/24 the first time he saw one, and he has been sailing and working on J/24s ever since. He has been a major influence on the class for over 30 years.
Winger has held numerous positions related to J/24 sailing, including event measurer at 7 of the 20 J/24 World Championships he has attended, district governor for the J/24 USA Class Association and member of the Executive Committee of the International J/24 Class Association, where he currently serves as Chair of the Technical Committee. Perhaps his most significant achievement was the effort he led to rewrite the class rules and the modifications required to gain World Sailing’s approval – a project that ultimately took over three years.
“The people behind the scenes make it possible for us to control the equipment and develop the tools and procedures for enforcement of the rules,” said Winger. “Thank you to US Sailing for supporting the sport we all love.”
An International Measurer (IM) since 2008, Winger has measured hundreds of boats at venues all over the world. His wife, Marie, often travels with him and shares in the measurement work.
“Between us we’ve seen the bottoms of more J/24s than anyone in the word,” added Winger.
Alex Finsterbusch, an IM from Argentina, said “One of his many abilities is to recognize what your strengths are as an inspector. He always had the right guy in the right position. He is always calm, never loses his cool and is polite to sailors, coaches and everybody involved in the regatta.
Means Davis – 2015
Means Davis (Ackworth, GA) has held countless positions at US Sailing over the past 40 years, including National and International Judge, Regional Race Officer and Judge and Race Management Instructor. He has served on the Board of Directors, the Review Board, the Judges Education and Training Subcommittee, the Risk Management Committee and many others.
Davis began sailing in high school after an injury knocked him off the state championship track and field team. He was a serious Snipe sailor for 25 years before turning his attention to race management and judging full-time in 1989. In that time, he said, he “learned every one of the rules one at a time, the hard way.”
In 1996, Davis moved temporarily to Savannah, GA where he was one of three people responsible for race management at the Olympic Games.
His “passionate love,” Davis says, is Optimist Dinghy racing, and he has run and judged at events from local club races to world championships. At the same time, he has taught numerous judges how to implement rules and how to work with race committees and, perhaps most important, mentored them in how to interact with junior sailors in the protest room.
Bruce Cook – 2014
Bruce Cook (Bayville, NY) is an International Judge and Umpire. He has been a member of the Review Board and is a past Area Representative for the U.S. Match Racing Championship. He has served as judge or umpire at numerous Olympic Trials, World Championships and Match Racing Tour events throughout his career, as well as Chief Judge or Chief Umpire at many national championships. He has been a member of the US Sailing Umpires Committee since 2007, and served as chairman from 2009 to 2014.
Cook is a volunteer and mentor at Oakcliff Sailing Center where, for the past four years, has taken the lead on organizing umpires for the 18 to 20 match racing events the center runs each summer. He runs umpire and judges seminars each year, significantly building the pool of local officials.
Cook has served on at least 10 US Sailing committees. He has instructed nearly 30 race management, judge and umpire seminars and workshops since 2003. Cook also serves as Staff Commodore of Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, NY.
“I am personally aware of a tremendous amount of time, effort and knowledge Bruce has put into the sport behind the scenes,” said Dave Perry. “He is always available to talk, problem solve and lend his wisdom, and is an invaluable resource for all judges and umpires.”
Peter “Luigi” Reggio – 2013
Peter Reggio (Essex, CT), affectionately known as “Luigi” by his many friends, has been involved in various aspects of race management for the past 35 years, running international regattas for boats as diverse as Finn dinghies and Maxi yachts. He has been at the forefront in introducing “competitor-friendly” race management practices, many of which have been adopted world-wide.
Reggio has the distinction of being the only individual to have run races for both the America’s Cup and the Olympic Games. In 1999-2000 he served as the Deputy Principal Race Officer for the Louis Vuitton Cup and then as the PRO in 2002-03 in Auckland, New Zealand. As the PRO for the LVC and the 32nd America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, he was responsible for managing all aspects of the on-the-water events for both regattas – a first for any individual in the same Cup cycle.
Although Reggio has an exceptional race management resume at the highest levels of the sport, perhaps his most significant accomplishment has been helping to establish a competitor-friendly attitude in race management with the goal of improving sailors’ experiences on the water. As a fellow race officer remarked recently, “Peter Reggio is an ambassador of the sport and, despite his lighthearted attitude, he is quite serious in his efforts to make it better. He is a big part of why I do things as I do.”
Pat Seidenspinner – 2012
Pat Seidenspinner (St. Petersburg, FL) contributed to excellence in race administration for many years. As a member of US Sailing’s Race Management Committee, she was editor of its Race Management Handbook for close to 15 years. She was also the Secretary of the Appeals Committee from 2000 to 2013, and editor of the Appeals Book during this time.
Seidenspinner served as Chairman of the Race Administration Committee and as a member of both the US Sailing Board of Directors and Executive Committee. She was one of the first women to hold positions such as Principal Race Officer for the Southern Ocean Racing Conference and many other championships hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club, International Race Officer for World Sailing, Principal Race Officer at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and Commodore of St. Petersburg Yacht Club.
In 2008, Seidenspinner received the Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award from BoatUS and the National Women’s Sailing Association. In presenting the award, BoatUS Assistant Vice President Susan Shingledecker said, “Pat Seidenspinner has such an impressive list of ‘firsts’ in her sailing resume. She has given an extraordinary amount of her time and expertise to grow the sport and inspire more women and girls to get involved in racing. Beyond the local level, she’s also volunteered for national leadership positions to improve race management across the board.”
Ken Legler – 2011
Ken Legler (Medford, MA) is widely known for his commitment to good race management and for his racing rules knowledge and teaching ability. The long-time Tufts University sailing coach has been involved with college racing since he helped the URI team win the 1977 College Dinghy and Team Racing National Championships. Legler began running races in 1974 at the US Sailing Center at Association Island, under the tutelage of Bill Bentsen, the 2008 Harman Hawkins Trophy winner, culminating with the 1976 U.S. Olympic Yachting Trials. Since then, he has run more than 40 world, North American, and national championships for such high-profile classes as the Optimist, Laser, 420, J-105, Melges 24 and Farr 40. Legler has also run more than 240 college regattas and some 30,000 practice races.
Also active as a judge and umpire, Legler hears most of the protests for the Boston Sailing Center’s frostbite racing, and chaired the protest committees for the 1974 Windsurfing Worlds and the 2005 U.S. Youth Championships. With this rich experience as background, he lectures, writes, videotapes, and has taught 150 clinics or seminars on racing, racing rules and race management. He is often a commentator for major team-racing events and has written numerous articles for Sailing World and SAIL magazine. Legler has also helped to develop new race management techniques. His ‘leg count’ for course selection is regularly used in New England intercollegiate events. Legler is also known for his competitor-friendly approach, which is appreciated by sailors and officials alike.
Arthur “Tuna” Wullschleger – 2010
Known to his friends as “Tuna,” Arthur Wullschleger (Larchmont, NY) had a racing career that included numerous Bermuda Races, Transatlantic races, Skaw Races to Scandinavia, Cowes Weeks and Fastnet Races. Along with this pursuit, Tuna was a founding member of the Storm Trysail Club and was instrumental in organizing their biannual Block Island Race Week. After serving as Commodore of the STC, Tuna was a key figure as well in the America’s Cup where he participated in several New York Yacht Club Defender syndicates in the 70’s and on into the 80’s where he led their America II Syndicate to Perth, Australia in an attempt to win back the America’s Cup from the Australians.
During these years, Wullschlege developed a passion for judging and, upon his return from Australia he became active in both the maxi Circuit and the Fifties series, where he became a fixture as Chief Judge. Not content with protests and hearings as the most efficient way of resolving boat-on-boat issues for match racing, Tuna was a part of the original group that pioneered on-the-water umpiring in Newport, RI, at the 1987 Maxi Series and used initially at the 1988 Congressional Cup. This system has developed into what we now regularly see at umpired match and team races internationally.
Although Wullschlege retired from umpiring in the mid-2000’s, he continued to judge actively well into 2012; participating annually in Key West Race Week, the Etchells Jaguar Series, the International Rolex Regatta, Antigua Race Week and the Newport Bermuda Race, to name just a few of his favorite events.
Barbara and Tom Farquhar – 2009
Together and separately, Barbara and Tom Farquhar (Marion, MA and St. Petersburg, FL) have been involved in nearly every aspect of race administration. The Farquhars have been extraordinarily influential in race management, judging, umpiring and appeals. They have taught race management, judging and umpiring seminars extensively around the world and given countless volunteer hours to regattas, US Sailing and World Sailing (formerly ISAF).
Barbara, a former US Sailing Vice President, is a certified National Judge and National Umpire and a Senior Race Officer. Her contributions include serving as the chairperson of the Race Administration and Judges Committees, and she has played significant roles with World Sailing’s Judges, Umpires and Match Racing Committees, the Women’s Forum and the Review Board. She was certified by World Sailing as an International Judge and International Umpire and, as an IJ and IU Instructor, and she continues teaching judges for US Sailing. Her most challenging and exciting job was being the Rules Advisor and team member for America3, the Women’s Team syndicate for the 1995 America’s Cup in San Diego.
Tom, a former Treasurer of US Sailing, served on the both the US Sailing Appeals Committee and the Race Management Committee for many years, including two terms as chairman of each. He is widely recognized as the creator of US Sailing’s Race Officer training program, and was the chairman of the Race Officer Training and Certification Subcommittee for 10 years. He was the Field of Play Manager for the 1996 Olympics in Savannah, and organized the U.S. Olympic Trials for Sailing in 1996 and 2000. He has been certified as a US Sailing National Judge, National Race Officer and Umpire. He also has been certified by World Sailing as an International Race Officer, Judge and Umpire.
Bill Bentsen – 2008
After an outstanding sailing career capped by two Olympic medals, Bill Bentsen (Chicago, IL) was influential in setting the direction for the US Sailing Judges program when that program was in its infancy and has become a highly respected US Sailing Senior Judge and an International Judge serving at all levels of the sport, including the Olympic Games. In the 1970s, working with the race committees at the national sailing center at Association Island, NY, Bentsen developed strikingly innovative and effective new race management techniques.
Bentsen’s major contribution has been on the US Sailing Appeals Committee as well as both the US Sailing and the World Sailing (formerly ISAF) Racing Rules Committees. It is no exaggeration to say that Bentsen’s knowledge of sailboat racing and his analytic and writing skills have affected every racing rule, every US Sailing appeal and every World Sailing case. Following in the footsteps of Harold Vanderbilt, Gregg Bemis, Gerald Sambrook-Sturgess, and Mary Pera, Bentsen is the person who has made the most contributions to improving the racing rules of sailing in the last thirty years.
Mary Savage – 2007
Mary Savage (Larchmont, NY) became a US Sailing Certified Judge during the second year of the program and continues to serve as a Senior Judge and an International Judge, serving at local youth events and prestigious events such as Key West Race Week and U.S. Paralympic Trials. After serving for many years as a Certified Umpire, she is now an Umpire Emeritus. She was Chair of the Race Administration Committee and served tirelessly as Chair of the US Sailing Competitor Classification Committee, which developed the competitor classification system that ultimately was adopted by World Sailing.
Currently, she is a member of the US Sailing Racing Rules Committee and the Judges Training and Testing Subcommittee, as well as a member of the Appeals Committee of the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound. She has been a member and chair of the Larchmont Yacht Club Yachting Committee. She rose through various committees within the YRA of Long Island Sound to become its President from 1988 to 1990.
Robin Wallace – 2006
Robin Wallace (Newport, RI) is an indefatigable race officer, having served at all levels of sailing from the America’s Cup Challenger Series to Wednesday night races. He has received well-deserved praise for his work as Principal Race Officer for fleet races, match races and team races. He currently represents US Sailing at World Sailing as an International Race Officer and as a member of the Race Management Subcommittee, the Medical Commission and the World Youth Sailing Trust. In addition, Wallace has served Rhode Island sailors as Chair of the Rhode Island State Yachting Commission.
Wallace has served on the Race Committees of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club since 1972, and the New York Yacht Club since 1988. He has served as PRO in Newport for a tremendous variety of events, including the America’s Cup Challenger Series in 1977, 1980 and 1983, World Youth Championship, World Disabled Championship, MAXI worlds and the Rolex Women’s Keel Boat Championship.
He also is the PRO for many local events, including the Ida Lewis Yacht Club’s Wednesday Night Shields Fleet races – that’s 21 Wednesday nights from early May until October. The fleet typically numbers 28-32 boats on the line! It’s not uncommon at the end of an afternoon for Wallace to jump off the signal boat for a US Sailing youth or Junior Olympics event and hop aboard the signal boat for the Shields just in time to start their race at 5:30.
Ron Ward – 2005
Ron Ward (Annapolis, MD) was awarded US Sailing’s first Harman Hawkins Trophy in recognition of his dedicated commitment to race administration. The trophy was presented by US Sailing Vice President Jim Capron, as well as by Janet Hawkins and Jack Hawkins, the wife and son of the late Harman Hawkins, after whom the trophy is named.
Ward has a record of service to the sport of sailing that is truly extraordinary. His long list of accomplishments includes a non-stop 42-year membership in US Sailing, 12 years of service on the US Sailing’s Judges Committee (including three as chair), 25 years of service as a US Sailing Senior Judge, Chairman of the US Sailing Umpires Committee, and much more. His service to racing sailors also includes four Americas Cups on the New York Yacht Club race committee and service as an International Judge or International Umpire for two Congressional Cups, three J/22 Worlds, three J/24 Worlds, Star Worlds, Pan Am Games, ISAF World Match Race Championship and many other events.
Jim Capron said of Ward, “Like Harman [Hawkins], one of Ron’s most important contributions to race administration is much closer to home. Ron continues to give to those current and future race officials who will succeed him. Almost every current judge on the Chesapeake has attended one of Ron’s training sessions, including me and several others in this room.”