Award recognizes impressive season of sailing

Sail Parry Sound coaches Andrew Parkes and Stephen Winkworth are the 2010 recipients of the Vic and Hazel Carpenter Award for Sailing Excellence.

The award presented September 18 at Sail Parry Sound's annual general meeting, recognizes the pair's outstanding summer sailing season.

After receiving the award, Parkes and Winkwork then went on to represent Sail Parry Sound at the prestigious CORK Fall Regatta September 25 and 26 in Kingston, where they had an impressive second place finish in the 420 class. They were first in two of the four races held on the Saturay.

This is the first year the two 17-year-old sailors have trained and competed as part of the Ontario Sailing Development Team. They hope to be coaching and teaching with Sail Parry Sound again next summer.

"They found this year that a lot of the younger sailors were really looking up to them as mentors, because of their race results and because they both have their gold qualification, which is one of the highest in sailing," says Cecilia Parkes, Sail Parry Sound's marketing director. "They love Parry Sound. It's a second home to Andrew. He's got a huge heart for it."

Winkworth and Parkes also want to continue to race in regattas across Ontario, with hopes of taking the next step of being invited to compete with the provincial sailing team.

The Vic and Hazel Carpenter Award for Sailing Excellence was introduced on September 25, 2009, in honour of Vic and Hazel Carpenter's contribution to the sport of sailing, through the creation of exquisite wooden boats, and Vic's lifelong passion for racing. It is presented to encourage and recognize youth racing skills at Sail Parry Sound The Vic and Hazel Carpenter Award for Sailing Excellence was introduced on September 25, 2009, in honour of Vic and Hazel Carpenter's contribution to the sport of sailing, through the creation of exquisite wooden boats, and Vic's lifelong passion for racing. The award is presented to encourage and recognize youth racing skills at Sail Parry Sound. At Superior Sailboats, Vic and Hazel Carpenter spent nearly 50 years building more than 40 exquisite wooden power and sailboats in Michigan, Port McNicoll and finally at Bayfield Inlet.