Flanking the William Ziegler III Trophy are (l – r) Noroton YC Commodore Katie Mitchell, Morgan Connor, Wells Connor, Jan Raymond and Drew Buttner.
The International Sonar Class Association held its 2024 World Championship at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT, September 12-15. Thirty-one boats from across the USA, Canada, and Ireland competed on Long Island Sound.
© Rick Bannerot/OntheFlyPhoto.net
Long Island Sound is known for its hot summer days, but nobody would have expected those conditions to extend until mid-September. On day one, despite her best efforts, PRO Shannon Bush couldn’t conjure up enough breeze to send out the fleet. Day two started the same way, but after an extended shoreside postponement, the fleet went out and got in one light-air race before the wind disappeared again. With only one race in the books and four races required for the Championship, it was hoped that the third day would hold the key. On Saturday the fleet got in two more relatively light-air races. All eyes turned towards the final day, with forecast models hoping that the 8-12 knot easterly would materialize.
On the Sunday, the first warning was moved up to 0930 in hopes of running four more races. In the end, it turned out to be a spectacular day with four races in the forecast breeze and everyone came ashore with big smiles on their faces.
Local Noroton Yacht Club sailor Morgan Connor and his crew won the Championship. The team’s consistency ultimately led to their victory, with finishes of 2-3-1-3-7-2 with a UFD in the seventh and final race being their dropped score. Their 17 net points gave them a 6-point margin over Gavin Pace in second (23 points) and TK Kinney in third (36 points).
While the first three days had light conditions, Sunday’s 10-12 easterly working against an ebbing current made for a challenging racing in the confused sea state. Drew Buttner, sailing as Connor’s tactician, said they set the jib cars differently when sailing into vs. across the waves and event co-chairs Janet Grapengeter and Michael Rudnick, who were also racing, noted they were constantly trimming their jib and main in the wave and breeze conditions.
Connor also noted that the competition was tough throughout the Championship, with race wins spread across top competitors and 15 of the 31 boats scoring at least one top-5 finish. However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of Connor’s win was the composition of his crew. Sailing for the first time since college with Drew Buttner, Morgan also had his 16-year-old son, Wells, doing bow. On top of that, Jan Raymond, the boat’s owner, became the oldest sailor to win a Sonar (and perhaps any) major one-design World Championship at 81 years young.
The International Sonar Class Association would like to thank Noroton Yacht Club for its hospitality, Commodore Katie Mitchell who was there to cheer the boats all weekend, and Class President Paul Steinborn who sailed on his own boat with Garin Pace at the helm finishing second.
The 2026 Sonar Class World Championship will be held in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, Canada. Results are posted at norotonyc.org/regatta/IWnyVTfMaq/results.
Gene Hinkel Receives US Sailing’s President’s Award At 2024 Sonar Worlds
Of note: At Saturday’s dinner, US Sailing’s Adult Director Betsy Alison presented US Sailing’s President’s Award to longtime Sonar Class member and measurer Gene Hinkel, recognizing his contributions to the Class and, in particular, his leadership in adapting Sonars and other classes for Paralympic sailing. 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 thirty 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. Gene, please come up to accept this award and be celebrated by your fellow sailors!” ■
Sonar Class Administrator Buttons Padin contributed to this report.
