The Norman E. Cressy Trophy
The Cressy Trophy was donated by Norm Cressy's family in honor of his 50th consecutive Marblehead Race Week in 1998. The trophy is given annually to the top performing skipper in Marblehead Race Week annually.
Norm Cressy grew up sailing 110s and Turnabouts at the Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly, Ma. He new he wanted to be a sailmaker from the eighth grade and after graduating from Beverly High School he apprenticed for Ted Hood in his sailmaking business in 1958. He started his own sailmaking business (Cressy Sails) in 1961 on School St in Marblehead and spent the next 45 years producing sails for cruising and racing sailors around the globe while employing hundreds of Marbleheaders.
While his business and reputation expanded into all aspects of sailing and sailmaking his real love the sport remained one-design racing. After leaving the 110 class he went on the win the 210 Nationals twice, was runner up in the Rhodes 19 Nationals five times, won countless regional events and dozens of regattas around the country in many different classes.
When Norm Cressy retired from the sailmaking business in 2006 he was one of the longest practicing sailmakers in the world and had seen the business of sailmaking and sport of sailing transform from back yard built boats with cotton sails to state-of-the-art composite yachts with composite sails.
Norm has given much of his time and support to racing in Marblehead as fleet president, race week committee member and was always there to donate flags, buoy markers and other race related items made at his sail loft.
It is believed that no one in the history of Marblehead sailboat racing has gone across the finish line first more than Norm Cressy. In 2011, he celebrated his 63rd consecutive race week by sailing in the I.O.D. class. He won with six first place finishes.
Recipients:
- 2023 - Matthew Hooks, Rhodes 19
- 2022 - Jim and Nat Taylor, Rhodes 19
- 2021 - Bill Widnall, IOD
- 2020 - Not contested due to COVID 19
- 2019 - Matthew Hooks, Rhodes 19
- 2018 - Jud Smith, J-70
- 2017 - John and Molly Baxter, J-70
- 2016 - Charlie Pendleton and Jim Raisides, Rhodes 19
- 2015 - Jud Smith, J-70
- 2014 - David Nelson, Rhodes 19
- 2013 - Benjamin Richardson, Rhodes 19
- 2012 - Charles Pendleton, Rhodes 19
- 2011 - Tomas Hornos, Sonar
- 2010 - Larry Ehrhardt, Sonar
- 2009 - Nick Johnstone, 420
- 2008 - Jeff Earl, J-24
- 2007 - Bill Lynn, Sonar
- 2006 - Peter and Doug Morgan, J-105
- 2005 - Bill Lynn, Sonar
- 2004 - Paul Adam, J-24
- 2003 - Kim Pandapas, Rhodes 19
- 2002 - Stewart Neff, Sonar
- 2001 - Bruce Dyson, IOD
- 2000 - Shan Mcadoo / Doug Trees, Rhodes 19
- 1999 - Dru Slattery, Sonar
- 1998 - David Curtis, Etchells
Francis P. Scully, Jr. Award
Deed of Gift:
Francis P. ("Frank") Scully, Jr. lived most of his life in Marblehead. He was an extraordinary sailor - particularly in Brutal Beasts, 110s (in which he won the Nationals), 210s and US One Designs - from an early age, sailing out of the Eastern Yacht Club. He won the North Shore Jr. (Curtis Cup) Championship. Frank was a member of the crew that won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1958 and was also a member of the US Olympic Team that won the bronze medal in Tokyo in 1964 sailing 5.5 meters.
In 1965, Frank and Anne Scully sailed the first Shields One Design into Marblehead harbor. The Shields, commissioned by Cornelius ("Corny") Shields, was the first fiberglass sailboat of its size. Frank became a tireless advocate for the new class, which grew rapidly. He never missed a chance, in person, by mail or by telephone, year-round, afloat and ashore to recruit new owners and members. He founded the Class's 4th fleet.
In 1966, the Boston Herald, echoing Frank's rhetoric, reported, "Something new is going on this week in the 77-year-old Race Week in Marblehead. It's the Shields Class, the hottest thing on water since nylon, scotch whiskey and the catamaran...Eventually, if not sooner, they will be the most active, the most numerous and the most talked-about of all the racing classes at Marblehead and other East Coast ports. Who says so? 'I say so,' says Frank Scully, Jr."
Reflecting the success of the Marblehead Shields Fleet, Frank served as President of the Shields National Association from 1973-1975. Frank was awarded the Fowle Trophy in 1975.
At its peak in 1976, the Shields class in Marblehead reached 25 boats with over 20 routinely on the starting line.
Frank was the perennial fleet champion and a regular winner at the Regionals. He won the Nationals in Marblehead in 1977 after which The Easterner, the newsletter of the Eastern Yacht Club, reported, "Neither rain nor fog nor wind nor lumpy seas can deter a determined and enthusiastic Shields advocate from winning..." The reporter was referring to the Nationals but the observation might also be applied to Frank's 10+ year devotion to the Fleet and Class. The builder's brochure of 1980 quoted two Shields enthusiasts: Frank Scully and Arthur Knapp.
Frank was gregarious and a bit of a "character." He regularly wore a fedora on the racecourse and more than once went back during a race to retrieve it from the water. In his "History" of the Northern Massachusetts Bay (Shields) Fleet, published in 1977, Eugene T. Connolly reported on, "...his good luck (according to Frank) charm, that aged, battered, crinkled, damaged, and once respectable brown hat, greatly valued by him. He really treasures it."
Frank's good humor, natural enthusiasm and commitment were the force behind the dramatic success of the Shields One Design Class in Marblehead and a model for other one-design sailors.
This Award is to be presented annually to that person who, in the opinion of the Chairman of the Marblehead Racing Association ("MRA"), after consulting the MRA Board, and reflecting on the standard set by Frank Scully, contributed the most that year to one design sailing. The award may not be presented in a year in which no person is deemed deserving of the Award.
Presented to the MRA by Fleet No. 4 Northern Massachusetts Bay, Shields Class Sailing Association, September 30, 2005.
Recipients:
- 2022 - Not Awarded
- 2021 - Not Awarded
- 2020 - Not Awarded
- 2019 - Not Awarded
- 2018 - Not Awarded
- 2017 - Not Awarded
- 2016 - Susan Schneider
- 2015 - Not Awarded
- 2014 - Kimon Pandapas
- 2013 - Not Awarded
- 2012 - Not Awarded
- 2011 - Not Awarded
- 2010 - Not Awarded
- 2009 - Maura Power
- 2008 - Maureen McKinnon Tucker
- 2007 - Jud Smith
- 2006 - Ralph Carlton
- 2005 - Jim and Jane Cooke
