HCIA Larry Klein Memorial Trophy

About Our Friend Larry

The late Larry Klein (1952-1994) was a world-class sailor and a real ambassador for the Highlander Class. In addition to winning five HCIA National Championships, his extensive sailing career included being a recipient of the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award. Unfortunately, a tragic boating accident during a race in 1994 claimed Larry’s life. The Highlander Class immediately wanted to come up with a perpetual trophy to honor Larry’s memory.

Larry Klein Memorial Trophy

The Larry Klein Memorial Trophy was created in 1995 to recognize the the skipper who defeats the most Highlanders during the entire regatta season. The Highlander Class commissioned Mike Perakis to create a trophy worthy of this honor. Mike really did an outstanding job with this task, designing and building a beautiful plaque that includes a Highlander half-hull model. Coincidentally, when this trophy was first presented at the 1996 Nationals to recognize the “winningest” skipper on the 1995 regatta circuit, Mike Perakis was the award’s inaugural recipient.

Larry Klein Scoring

Scoring is very straight forward. Every sanctioned weekend regatta of the season is counted. After every regatta, each boat’s skipper earns one point for every boat it defeated in the event. After the last regatta of the year, the year’s scores are totaled and the skipper beating the most boats on the regatta circuit is presented with the Larry Klein Trophy at the trophy presentation at the following year’s Nationals.