Lakewood Yacht Club members do well at Shoe Regatta

The Lakewood Yacht Club Shoe Regatta Perpetual Trophy was earned by Richard Voyles, far left, on his J/22 named "Must Go Faster." Pictured with him at the awards ceremony are, from left, LYC Commodore A.J. Ross, race committee chairman Gerhard Wittich, pa

Richard Voyles was awarded the Shoe Regatta perpetual trophy at an awards ceremony held on May 20 at the Lakewood Yacht Club.

The trophy goes to the winner of the most competitive class of spinnaker classes sailing windward/leeward courses with at least five entrants.

"On the Saturday of the race, everything went so well," said Voyles, who races the "Must Go Faster J/22 vessel, in a press release. "We always seemed to be going the right way -- not sure why -- but we were sure glad about that. All the pieces just came together perfectly."

The regatta was held on Galveston Bay May 19-20 with more than 60 participating boats. Live music by Jeff Lopez's "Cross Roads" band was a highlight of the pool party on May 20.

Lakewood Yacht Club racers earned 10 trophies at the awards ceremony, and this is believed to be a record in the 30 years since the regatta was founded. The yacht club members who won trophies were David Whelan, first place in the J/80 fleet. Bill Zartler on Solaris took second place in the J/105 fleet, with "Infinity" owned by Uzi Ozeri coming in first place. Al Goethe on "Hamburg" placed first in the J/109 fleet. In the Cruising Non-Spinnaker Classic Canvas (Distance), John Broderick finished third on his "French Kiss," while Jack Seitzinger came in second on "Asylum."

Earning first place in PHRF Non-Spinnaker (Distance) was Hans Knickrehm on "Suite Deern." For PHRF Spinnaker B, Tom Sutton took second on "Leading Edge."

Lakewood racers also took third and first places in PHRF Spinnaker A as third place went to Douglas Shaffer on "Gambler," while Steve Rhyne came in first on "Mojo."

Sponsors of the regatta were Bay Access, Sea Lake Yacht Sales, Mount Gay Rum and West Marine.