Jere Dennison

 Johnny Hawksworth, born in 1941, joined the Fishing Bay Yacht Club in 1954 as an Unattached Junior.  His family, which owned and eventually subdivided Stove Point, sold our predecessor, the Urbanna Yacht Club, its original Fishing Bay property on December 31, 1948. The Hawksworths occupied the white frame house to the east of FBYC and later a house on Tobacco Cove.  Although the family was not inclined to join FBYC, Johnny, as a young teenager, was recruited to sail as crew by his mentor, Ralph C. Lynn, in the high performance Uffa Fox-designed Jollyboat for which a racing fleet of this international class had organized in the mid-1950s.  The attached photo pictures Johnny at age 17 and a younger Drew Sinnickson as crewmen aboard Ralph’s Jolly while frostbiting in the fall of 1958.  These early racing experiences sparked Johnny’s indomitable passion for sailing throughout his life.   

Later Johnny campaigned his own Jolly, US 812 Bucker, and became the guy to beat in races throughout Chesapeake Bay and mid-Atlantic regions.  In 1970, he won a series of match races in a series known as Australia Bound to win the right to represent FBYC in the Jollyboat Worlds in Melbourne Australia.   So much was he admired in Australia, Johnny still counts friends and has maintained contact with members of the Port Melbourne Yacht Club.

In 1974, Johnny was named skipper of FBYC’s entry in the Lloyd Phoenix Regatta hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.  Sailed in the Academy'’s fleet of Luders 44 Yawls, this invitational event was then intended as a competition between Chesapeake area yacht clubs and was rarely won by a lower Bay club.  Johnny and his other FBYC crewmembers won this prestigious series for the first and only time in club history.  See History Article.  It has since evolved into US Sailing’s National Offshore Championship.   

His first offshore yacht was a Pearson 26, but he really hit his stride in 1979 after purchasing the red-hulled J24, US 170 Basic Transportation.  Johnny was instrumental in establishing and promoting a very active J24 O/D fleet in the 1980s.  Again he was leading the pack and accumulating a mountain of silver.  Basic Transportation is depicted prominently in John Barber’s popular “Spinnaker Reach” print that constitutes the club’s Barber Trophy.  Although not in the lead, he is shown close astern of the J24 Pearl in the foreground.

Johnny Hawksworth’s name adorns many of our perpetual trophies.          Commodores Bowl – 1968, 1981     Henry E. Hutcheson, Jr. Memorial Trophy – 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970     Nott Memorial Trophy – 1983, 1984     Hicks Trophy – 1967, 1968, 1969     Offshore Division Championship Trophy – 1984

    Barber Trophy – 1992<     Matthew Fontaine Maury Bowl – 1983

 

The Maury Bowl for outstanding contribution to sailing was awarded jointly to Johnny Hawksworth and Kenzie Hubard.  As Co-Junior Activities Chairmen, they first formatted the successful Junior Week program in the early 1980’s that still exists and thrives today.  The 1984 Junior Week picture nearby shows Johnny first on the left of the bottom row with Kenzie directly beside him.  Many of our current members, both adults and former juniors, fill out the rows behind them.

Johnny served as Commodore of FBYC in 1986, Vice Commodore 1985, Rear Commodore 1984, Junior Activities Co-Chair 1982, 1983, and Protest Chairman 1981.  Following his term as Commodore, he served for two years as Member-at-Large, 1987 & 1988, the extra year to substitute for Past Commodore Bill Perkins who was unable to fill this position due to ill health.  Additionally, Johnny was our CBYRA Delegate 1988 through 1990 and was elected a Life Member in 1999.

In 2000, he purchased a powerboat to explore places on the Bay he had not been able to get to on a sailboat.

Although not active at FBYC for the last 10 – 15 years due to business and personal exigencies, Johnny Hawksworth must be considered one of the more important and accomplished members in our club’s history. And his memory will live on.  ~(\,~