Top ocean cruising honors presented to Leiv Poncet, Cole Brauer, and Carter Bacon
by Cruising Club of America 11 Mar 17:12 GMT
March 7, 2025
Carter “Bink” Bacon, right, receives the 2024 Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy from CCA Commodore Jay Gowell in the Model Room of the New York Yacht Club © Barbara Watson
The 2024 Cruising Club of America (CCA) awards ceremony was held at the New York Yacht Club on Friday, March 7, highlighted by the presentation of the Blue Water Medal to high-latitude voyager Leiv Poncet, the Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy to Newport Bermuda racer Carter Bacon, and the Young Voyager Award to circumnavigator Cole Brauer.
Sailors who were unable to attend recorded their acceptance comments, but Carter "Bink" Bacon of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was on hand to express his extraordinary sentiments in person:
"Being rescued from a sinking boat is a surreal experience, even if you've got wonderfully competent people around who walk you through the whole process," said Bacon, upon accepting the 2024 award. "I don't think there's anything about losing a boat anybody can ever really feel proud of. As it was made clear to me, the award isn't for losing the boat, the award is for deciding to leave that beautiful boat before it turns into a nightmare."
Bacon was recognized for his judgment and bravery in choosing to abandon his classic yacht at sea and directing a seamless rescue of himself and crew, assisted by the United States Coast Guard. He received the award from CCA Commodore Jay Gowell.
Abandoning Solution, his 60-year-old sloop after 24 years and numerous voyages, including several races to Bermuda and a transatlantic crossing, Bacon and his crew were saved in a carefully orchestrated rescue 200 miles off Cape Cod.
"I am pleased to receive the award because I think people should understand that the boat is, at the end of the day, a very nice thing. No matter how special it is, no matter how devoted you may have been to it, it's not worth a penny compared to the lives of the people who are enjoying it," Bacon said.
Leiv Poncet, aboard his 38-foot steel sloop, Peregrine, in the Falkland Islands, received the Blue Water Medal remotely for his numerous intrepid high-latitude voyages around the world. His dedication to exploring the world's most remote and challenging locations without fanfare include his circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean, voyages from the Falkland Islands to the Aleutian Islands, and first-ever high latitude sea-kayaking trips. Poncet, who lives on Beaver Island in the Western Falkland Islands, has also contributed to scientific research by using Peregrine as a base for ornithologists and other scientists.
"Thanks very much to the awards committee for this medal," Poncet said. "I'm proud to have received it, and I think it's something I'll be proud of for a long time. When there are so many out there sailing and doing some amazing things, it means all the more for me to have been selected and is an honor."
Referring to his remarks delivered by video, Poncet added, "When you give a medal to somebody who is a loner and a solo sailor you can't expect them to change their habits too much. Once again, thank you very much."
With this honor—the highest CCA award—Poncet follows in the wake of other remarkable sailors including Bernard Moitessier, Eric and Susan Hiscock, Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson, and Jean-Luc Van Den Heede. He is the first winner of the Blue Water Medal whose parents won it previously. Jerome and Sally Poncet earned the award in 1992 for their pioneering liveaboard voyaging in Antarctica and their publication of a handbook to voyaging in the region.
The winner of the CCA's Young Voyager Award, Cole Brauer, also received the honor virtually. The award recognizes a young sailor who has made one or more exceptional voyages, demonstrating exceptional skills and courage.
Brauer, a 30-year-old sailor who lives in Newport, Rhode Island, made history at the age of 29 by becoming the first American woman to sail around the world, non-stop, singlehanded. Her remarkable journey of 130 days aboard the Class 40 First Light in the Global Solo Challenge not only showcased her racing skills and seamanship but also earned her a second-place finish in the race.
Challenges she faced included injuring her rib after being thrown around by a massive wave, becoming severely dehydrated, and handling many boat repairs—all while informing and entertaining a social media audience that soared to nearly half a million.
"The Young Voyager Award is so amazing, and I'm truly honored to receive it," she said in an onboard video she made recently off the coast of Australia. "As sailors we are all the same. We may look a little different, be a little different size, maybe a little bit weirder, but we are a community, and this community is really strong.
"I really hope I can continue in this sport and inspire the next generation and be a part of it," she added during the two-minute recording. "I respect this sport a lot for what it has to offer, and I think there's a lot of really amazing talent coming up, especially in the United States. Harnessing that as much as we can and being as inclusive as we can is the best that we can do."
Nigel Calder of Damariscotta, Maine, received the 2024 Diana Russell Award for Innovation, named for a yacht designer and yacht systems developer who was one of the first women to join the CCA. Calder received this recognition for his extensive knowledge, research, development, and production of advanced electrical systems for yachts.
Calder is renowned in the marine industry for his pioneering work and dedication to improving the safety, efficiency, and reliability of yacht electrical systems. He has played a pivotal role in the development of standards for boat electrical and propulsion systems for the American Boat and Yacht Council in the United States and for similar organizations and authorities in Europe.
In a video with a boat's nav station as the virtual background, Calder, recovering at home from knee replacement surgery, emphasized the role that all sailors and CCA members play in his work. "Anything I've been able to achieve has been a massive, collective team effort in which we've all played a part," he said. "This is an award for all of us, so we all need to take the credit and I'd like to share it with everybody who's in the room, and in the cruising community. Thank you."
The Club's premier sailing honor for a member, Far Horizons Award for 2024, went to Finley H. Perry Jr., of Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The award recognizes the sailing achievements of someone who has embarked on a cruise or series of cruises that demonstrate the broader objectives of the Club, including the adventurous use of the sea.
Already a veteran sailor, Perry purchased an Aage Nielsen 46 named Elskov in 1998 and sailed her from Maine to Denmark, and up the coast of Norway to Tromsø. He sailed to Spitzbergen in 2003, reaching 80 degrees north latitude, then crossed to Iceland, southern Greenland, and Labrador.
In 2006, Perry cruised the west coast of Greenland, past Disko Bay to Uummannaq Fjord at 71 north latitude, then crossed Davis Strait and explored uncharted Hoare Bay on the Cumberland Peninsula of east Baffin Island. Another voyage, in 2013, covered 3,000 miles from Baddeck, Nova Scotia, into Hudson Strait as far as Kinngait (formerly Cape Dorset) at the southwest tip of Baffin Island.
The occasion also gave the Club the opportunity to recognize members for an array of milestones, such as reaching the 50-year mark in CCA membership; completing an ocean crossing aboard one's own boat; and for special service to the CCA. Other awards presented included:
- Bill Barton of Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, received the CCA 2024 Charles H. Vilas Literary Prize for "Tazzarin—North to Nunatsiavut: A Voyage to Newfoundland, Labrador and the Inuit Lands," to be published in the 2025 edition of Voyages, the CCA magazine.
- Nicholas H. "Nico" Walsh, of Freeport, Maine, won the CCA 2024 Royal Cruising Club Trophy for his outstanding cruise, including circumnavigation of the Isle of Mull in the western isles of Scotland, which served as a preview of the July 2025 CCA Scotland Cruise.
- William E. "Bill" Cook won the 2024 Richard S. Nye Trophy. Given at the discretion of the governing board, the Nye Trophy is awarded for bringing distinction to the Club by meritorious service, outstanding seamanship, outstanding performance in cruising and racing, international yachting statesmanship, or any combination of these accomplishments.
Cook has had a distinguished career in yacht design and his own sailing accomplishments include multiple cruises in Europe and high-latitude waters. He also served as Rear Commodore of the Boston Station and for extended terms as chairman of the membership and awards committees, chairman of Mystic Seaport Museum, and as a founder of the Cape Cod Maritime Museum.
Read more about all that the winners achieved to earn their awards at the Awards page of the club website.