Since David Rearick was a 12-year-old boy, a major part of his life has revolved around sailing.  Once he experienced the joy of being around water, he immersed himself in learning how boats harness the wind and waves.  He had big dreams and got involved in local races, setting courses, encouraging others, and creating opportunities for people to learn and to race.  His focus expanded from races hosted by Michigan City Yacht Club, Michigan City, Indiana, to those held across the Great Lakes, encompassing crewed and solo opportunities.

Dave has sailed Sunfish, Hobie Cats, Lasers, J/24s, Open 50s, Class 40s as well open pulling boats, large schooners and many other sailing vessels.   Dave is most often associated with the well-known boat Geronimo, and more recently, with the J/V 67 Defiance.

A continual leaner, he became a good project manager, whose approach helped streamline race management, boat management and racing campaigns.  When he lost his good friend Mike Silverthorne during the 2002 Lake Michigan Solo Scramble, he advocated for stronger communication and safety standards for solo races.

John Hoskins’ contributions to local sailing clubs seems tireless, serving in many different positions and always trying to improve members’ participation, while emphasizing fun sailing and making new friends to encourage new sailors to participate. He has served as Sail Racing Chair and Commodore of Anchorage Yacht Club, of Lake Forest, Illinois, and is a lifetime member and is a past President of the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society. He has been a US Sailing certified Sailing Instructor and Sailing Instructor for Instructors.

With just a few other members of the Anchorage Yacht Club, John helped with the development of a racing program that has increased participation and learning for the entire fleet. Within the time span of six years, between 2008 and 2014, this effort increased the weekly participation from an average of ten boats to an average of more than thirty boats on the starting line each week. He helped the club implement a set of Saturday distance races called “Solo/Double” each season to provide opportunity for shorthanded sailors to race with the club. Due to their popularity and the attraction of distance racing, in 2013 the club added an additional section for full crewed boats and now these races are called “All-or-One” to include solo, double-handed and fully crewed boats. In 2013, John collaborated with a sister club to create “Big Fleet Races” which provided more opportunities for racing and friendships amongst sailors in Waukegan Harbor.   John has offered many suggestions on race course setup and sailing instructions to enable ease of race management and racer participation.

    

Jere Sullivan’s heritage propelled him into a life oriented around water.  His grandfather captained a three-masted schooner, Moonlight, which won a race against another schooner, Porter, in 1880.  The race went from Buffalo, New York, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, averaging 15 knots across the course.  His grandfather established the Gartland Steamship Company in Chicago, Illinois.  Jere was brought to the bridge of the owned vessels at a very young age, installing the desire to be active on the water for his entire life.  His family migrated from Milwaukee to Cleveland, Ohio, where Jere started his sailing career.  He sailed in Comets, Stars and R Boats out of Cleveland Yachting Club.  In 1965 and 1966 he won the Yacht Racing Union of the Great Lakes’ Richardson Cup championship, sailing for the Inter-Lake Yachting Association.

Born August 21, 1928, Lindy Thomas did not have the privilege to begin as a youth in sailboat racing. He began his sailing career at age 23, but that did not keep him from being very successful in this field.

Lindy started out in Seagulls, then progressively moved up through Arrows, Snipes, Dolphins, Flying Scots, Yankees, Solings, then the Tartan 10, Thomas 35, Tripp 47, Nelson/Marek 50, and finally an Andrews 70; most of them named Goblin.   He has won trophies in most of the events in which he has raced: 24 of 41 Chicago to Mackinac races, 7 of 18 Port Huron to Mackinac races, Tartan 10 Nationals in 1978, three Tartan 10 Midwinter Championships and the 1975 Centennial Race from Port Huron to Chicago in his division by over 5 hours. Lindy’s vessels have been Lake Michigan’s Sail Racing Federation’s Area III Boat of the Year 16 times.   His many victories in the seasonal LMSRF Area III races are too numerous to detail here.

    

Where many sailors joined the sailing fraternity as kids or teenagers, William L. Bluhm began his sailing career in his late twenties. After two tours in the United States Navy and acquiring his education at the University of Michigan, majoring in education and administration, he located in the Detroit, Michigan, area to begin his business career in 1961. He was invited to sail on Lake St. Clair, which he relished and being recognized as a good crew, he sailed on a C&C 34 in Port Huron to Mackinac races quite a few times.

Having married and having two sons he hoped would join sailing, Bill moved to Pentwater, Michigan, in 1970. He immediately joined Pentwater Yacht Club, joined committees, and became involved with the Lightning and Sunfish fleets. Bill and his two sons raced regularly in the two fleets. His leadership qualities were recognized early on, both on the water and in the community. He finished his business career as Superintendent of Pentwater Schools.

Richard Reichelsdorfer, popularly known as Rich, was born March 3, 1968 into a sailing family. Cruising with his family at an early age and sailing and racing with the Sheboygan Sea Scouts he learned early on the pleasure of sailing and racing. Rich learned the rules of sail racing and practiced them, earning the respect of his competitors and observers. He has dedicated his life to the sport.

At every opportunity to advance sail racing in Sheboygan he was at the front making it happen. He was the First Director of Sail Sheboygan and is the current Director of Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan. Additionally, Rich is a national race officer, having served the 2011 Nations Cup, the IFDS Blind World Match Racing Championship, the 2014 Lightning North American Championship and the Buddy Melges Challenge, a part of the Women’s International Match Racing Series. His work with the Blind World Match Racing Championship inspired IFDS to make significant changes to future blind match racing events.