On Wednesday evening, at the Worlds in PuntAla, a presentation took place honouring four great contributors to the A-Class Cat. Artworks were presented for each nominee.
They were: Dieter Melcher, SUI 192, he wrote most of the IACA Constitution
Ben Hall, USA, for numerous contributions to the class, especially in USA
Graeme Harbour, for his incredible help in the IACA Committee (Class Rules and Championship Rules modernizations), and of course as International Measurer
Piet Saarberg - NED 1 for his innovation and enthusiastic presence within the class.
A short speech was given on each nominee about their contribution, and PJ Dwarshuis said this on Piet Saarberg
“I can tell you a good story when I was about 15 years old, we're talking about 1980. So I was a 15 year old kid and I had an old Hobie cat when I saw Piet at my sailing club in Harderwijk with a few others who sailed an Unicorn and I thought: “Wow that's something different; it's bigger, it's nicer, it's faster”.
At that time it was far beyond my possibilities to own one but Piet said: “You can build it yourself, I can help you and I have a plan for you and I have an old mast and an old sail”. Finally I literally built it all for 1000 guilders and Piet helped me completely out.
He took me to the World Championships in 1982 in Cesenatico and I was sailing Unicorn and he was already sailing a Bim or something and since then we're good friends.
He told me a lot about boat building and also influenced me to start my own company.
Piet was a very good designer also. He designed the Pesa A-class catamaran which was quite innovative at the time. It was a big volume, quite fast boat.
Piet is a great guy, he's okay, he is still sometimes sailing; he is fighting his Alzheimer's disease, his memory is sometimes failing a little bit but the guys at Hellecat sometimes still need him.
Piet did a lot for the A-class, he was secretary of the IACA for many years and he spent thousands of hours for the A-class, so put your hands together for Piet.”
And in response to his nomination, Dieter Melcher wrote:
I’m very honoured to receive this great award and I dedicate it at the same time to everyone supporting this wonderful A-Cat Class.
In the early days A-Cats were mainly built in garages and everyone tried to have the fastest one. At that time we could not imaging that later on A-Cats would fly and reach such terrific speeds and with sailors with a helmet.
When we founded the “International A-Division Catamaran Association” in Bavaria in May 8th, 1975 (with quiet a lot of beer), I was elected as the first IACA-President, naturally with the obligations to formulate the first Constitution (2 pages), the first International Racing Rules (1 page) and search for clubs racing us!
“We now have a IACA-World Record with 86 “foilers” and 89 “classics”, a total of 175 entries …what a tremendous challenge for the “Centro Velico Punta Ala!
A big, big “thank you” to the race committee, to all the helpers ashore and on the water, to the many sponsors and to the local authorities making such a fantastic event to happen. A-Cat sailors are known to be respectful, fair on the water and open for long lasting friendships.
On an A-Cat you can hang out on the trapez until your hair gets grey and you still enjoy it. The proof is Scotty (Anderson) still sailing so fast. I enjoyed it myself for over 50 year!
Again thank you for this great award, thank you Punta Ala, thank you A-Cat friends.
“A-Cat sailors have more fun” and it should stay that way for a long time to come. - DieterHonouring four great A-Class personalities
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