Four team owners have been named for the prestigious 2011 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence. The announcement was made after the culmination of the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. The 2011 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence is presented by Gorsline Company. From a field of 25 teams, four team owners were nominated for the Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence. A panel of motorsports professionals will choose the winner of the prestigious award. The award will be presented on Friday 27th, 2012 during the Grand Marshall dinner. The Grand Marshall Dinner is the traditional introduction to the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The recipient of the award will be presented with a specially-engraved Rolex Stainless Steel and Platinum Yacht-Master timepiece.

This award was specially designed for rewarding team managers and team owners for their extraordinary skills in leading the team with integrity and for people who are extremely passionate for the sport. Bob Snodgrass was known for his obsession with cars and also with the sport during his entire career. Bob Stallings was the first-ever recipient of the award in 2010. The Gorsline Company, which has been the premier insurer of high-risk professionals, also supports the award. Peter Baron of Starworks Motorsport (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida), Joe Sahlen of Team Sahlen Racing (Buffalo, New York), John Stevenson of Stevenson Motorsports (Jacksonville, North Carolina)and Sylvain Tremblay of SpeedSource (Sunrise, Florida) are the four nominees for this year’s 2011 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence.

Born in Elmira, New York, he saw his first race at Watkins Glen, New York, and was hooked. Bob Snodgrass was the president of Brumos Racing and the president and CEO of Brumos auto dealerships in Jacksonville, Florida. Bob Snodgrass passed away in 2007 at the age of 64.

He lived in Florida for 35 years. As a team owner, his team had bagged three Rolex 24 at Daytona wins. Brumos Racing already had eight Rolex 24 at Daytona and a total of 10 wins at Daytona. He played a pioneering role for the formation of the Grand American Road Racing Association and the Daytona Prototype class. Bob Snodgrass was solely responsible for Brumos Racing’s entry into the motorsports circuit. He was well known for his humor and wit and was an accomplished vintage-car racer. Bob Snodgrass and Peter Gregg owned the Brumos Porsche from 1965 until his death in 1980.

Rolex’s association with motorsports began in the 1930s with Malcolm Campbell. While wearing a Rolex Oyster in 1935, Malcolm Campbell was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour, setting a new land speed record. Rolex truly solidified its position in the sport in 1959 when it began an association with the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. Few years later, Rolex became the title sponsor of its pre-eminent endurance race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, in 1992. It was shortly after its initial affiliation with the race track that Rolex introduced a watch designed for speed lovers, the Cosmograph Daytona, which allows its wearer to clock elapsed times and calculate average speeds!

The Rolex sponsored U.S. Match Racing Championship was won by Dave Perry (Southport, Connecticut). This was his fourth U.S. Match Racing Championship. The winning crew consisted of Mark Rehe (Harper Woods, Michigan), Chris Museler (Portsmouth, Rhode Island) and Dave Perry himself as the skipper of the crew. In the finals of the U.S. Match Racing Championship, sponsored by Rolex, Dave Perry’s team defeated Taylor Canfield (St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands) by 2-0. This four day US SAILING National Championship sponsored by Rolex, was hosted by the Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, California. With this win, Dave Perry claimed his fourth Prince of Wales Bowl.

Dave Perry was able to make his way to the finals of the US SAILING National Championship after six nail biting matches against skipper Chris Nesbitt (San Diego, California). After winning the first match, Chris Nesbitt came back strongly to win the next two matches. In the third match, a 0.75 penalty deduction was applied to Dave Perry for causing boat damage during contact on a Rule 14 violation by Chris Nesbitt. Winning the next three straight matches to advance was extremely necessary for Dave Perry to stay in the competition. His team was able achieve this feat due to their great starts. Team Perry went for a score of 14-5 this week overall.

Dave Perry and Taylor Canfield represent two generations of sailing champs. In the first few matches, Dave Perry won two straight matches over the number one seed Taylor Canfield in the finals. According to Dave Perry, the old prevailed over the new for a few instances and thus, in order to be the best, the young guns need to go through the old. According to him, Taylor Canfield is an aggressive sailor who hates to lose. Taylor Canfield has already defeated Dave for quite a few times earlier also. Dave Perry admitted that the world of sailing sport needs players like him.

Taylor Canfield’s team included Tod Reynolds (Chicago, Illinois), Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisconsin) and Jennifer Wilson (Chicago, Illinois). The team scored 15-1 overall including the Single Round Robin, First Knockout Series and this afternoon’s semifinal three-win sweep over skipper Brian Angel (El Segundo, California).

Dave Perry is the top ranked U.S. match racing skipper by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). He won his first U.S. Match Racing Championship in the year 1982. In 2006 and 2008 also, he continued his winning run with the U.S. Match Racing Championship. The 2011 U.S. Match Racing Championship marked his third title representing the Pequot Yacht Club (Connecticut). Chris Museler (Portsmouth, Rhode Island) was a part of Dave Perry’s winning run at the 2006 and 2008 U.S. Match Racing Championships. Dave Perry is also the women’s match racing coach for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Dave Perry received an invitation to race in the 2012 Knickerbocker Cup and 2012 Ficker Cup, two Grade 2 events and World Tour Qualifiers.

A six day long US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR returns to Miami, Florida on January 23rd, 2012. The sailing spectacle will begin from January 23rd, 2012 and will culminate on January 28th, 2012. The Rolex Miami OCR will be a six-day elite sailing competition between the world’s top Olympic and Paralympic contestants. Rolex Miami OCR organizers posted the news in their official website. The online registration for the Rolex Miami OCR will start from October 12th, 2011 for all the competitors and coaches. Registration closes at January 9th, 2012. The sailing spectacle will be held in the backdrop of the picturesque Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove, Florida. The Rolex Miami OCR is the second prestigious event on the International Sailing Federation’s (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2011-2012 circuit. The regatta co-chairman Gary Bodie (Hampton, Virginia) said that since the 2012 Rolex Miami OCR is the last year of the Olympic quadrennium, this sailing competition is slated to see an increase in the participation of the world’s top Paralympic hopefuls.

All of these Paralympic contestants will be coming to Miami straight off the IFDS World Championships, also held in Florida. However, the December, 2011 ISAF World Championship in Perth may cause a little downfall in the participation in Florida. Rolex Miami OCR is open to boats competing in events chosen for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition and the 2012 Paralympic Sailing Competition. Laser Radial (women), Laser (men), Finn (men), Men’s RS: X, Women’s RS: X, 49er (men), Men’s 470, Women’s 470, Star (men) and Elliott 6m (women) are the ten Olympic classes and 2.4mR (open, able and disabled), SKUD18 (mixed, disabled) and Sonar (open, disabled) are the three Paralympic classes participating in the Rolex Miami OCR.

It also the final selection event for the U.S. Paralympic Team – Sailing. Paralympic class competitors will have five days of fleet racing, from Monday to Friday. Medals will be awarded to the top three boats in each Olympic and Paralympic class on Saturday, January 28.

The US Sailing Center in Miami will be the Regatta Headquarters for the year 2012. The US Sailing Center Miami is n official Olympic training center located in the Coconut Grove section of Miami, Florida. Event organizers have joined hands with the city of Miami to provide world-class venues for competition. Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Miami Rowing Club and Shake-a-Leg Miami are the additional hosts of the event. These sailing organizations host classes onshore, as well as help run the on-the-water racing. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The 2012 Rolex Miami OCR is also sponsored by Alpha Graphics, Sperry Top-Sider, Harken McLube, Kattack and the University of Miami Hospital.

The Rolex sponsored 2011 U.S Team Racing Championship saw the debut by the Collegiate All –Americans. This U.S Team Racing Championship sponsored by Rolex came away with the prestigious George R. Hinman Trophy on Sunday. Most of the participants of the Rolex sponsored U.S Team Racing Championship performed at their best while fighting it out for the trophy and the title. In the six team Championship stage, the Minor Threat team was able to score 9-1. On this initial stage of the game, the Minor Threat team left behind the 2009 champions, the New York Yacht Club Team Extreme. The New York Yacht Club Team Extreme was able to manage a score of 8-2, but that was not enough to beat the new comers! The Larchmont Yacht Club managed the third podium in the championship. This US SAILING National Championship event was hosted by the Houston Yacht Club in Vanguard 15s on Galveston Bay.

Each and every member of the Minor Threat team has been an Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) All-American for at least one time. Cy Thompson (St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands), Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, California), Tyler Sinks (San Diego, California) and crew Kelly Stannard (Salem, Connecticut), Lucy Wallace (Middletown, Rhode Island) and Alex Taylor (Boston, Massachusetts) are the members of the Minor Threat team. All the three skippers were ICSA All-Americans for three times in their sailing career. Charlie Buckingham had also won the College Sailor of the Year honors for 2011. Charlie Buckingham sailed in this Championship in high school and twice in college.

Charlie Buckingham said that he and his team members respected each other’s attitude towards performing at heir single best every time. This is the only reason that all three of them decided to venture for the sport of sailing all together.

Charlie Buckingham also admitted that this year’s level of competition was very high and all the participants were extremely talented and each one of them had the potential to win the championship. There were close calls for all the teams participating in the competition. The only reason, according to Charlie Buckingham for which they won the race was the team’s brilliant performance in the matches against the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) Team Extreme. The NYYC team consists of Zachary Brown (New Haven, Connecticut), Emmet Smith (New Haven, Connecticut), Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands), Marla Menninger (New York), Stuart McNay (Boston, Massachusetts), and Michael Hession (Chicago, Ill). The Minor Threat team learned from the initial mistakes that the team committed in the first round and thus faired well later in the race. Taking on the NYYC Team Extreme was very necessary in order to win the race or otherwise NYYC had all the ability to push back the other participants in the competition and grab the first podium easily. The Minor Threat lost to Larchmont Yacht Club only yesterday.