Carlton Tucker Sportsperson of the Year Award 2023
The Carlton Tucker Sportsperson of the Year Award (CTSPOTY) is the highest honor the class association bestows upon its members.
Early in 1994, Gigi Moore (HCA Chairperson at the time) enlisted Ted Lindley’s help in exploring a way to honor a Hobie person for their contribution to the Hobie Way of Life. Ted was the chairman of a committee of Gail Force (Division 12), Ron and Shirley Palmer (Division 2), and John Hauser (Division 2). The committee developed the nomination guidelines and how the award would be governed.
They created the concept of a perpetual trophy in the form of a commemorative book. Within the book the story of each honoree is chronicled. This prestigious book is displayed in a specially designed box. Each recipient receives a framed certificate as a keepsake.
Every year since 1995, the HCA has honored a Hobie sailor who by his or her unselfish attitude and commitment to our sport has set an example for all to enjoy “The Hobie Way of Life.” In 1998, posthumously honoring a great Hobie sailor, the name of the trophy was changed to the Carlton Tucker Sportsperson of the Year Award.
Carlton was one of the world’s most successful, talented and versatile multihull sailors. He won nine national championships on seven different boats — the Hobie 14, the Hobie 18, the Nacra 5.2, the Prindle 19, the Hobie 21, the Hobie 20, and the Stiletto 23 — and won the Alter Cup Championship three times. At the world level, he finished third in the 1988 Hobie 17 Worlds and second in that event in 1990.
He finished fifth in the Hobie 16 Worlds in 1986; and he was three times runner-up at the Hobie 18 Worlds. He also excelled at distance races, racing in the Worrell 1000 four times, with finishes of fifth, second, first and third. He won the Raid Mer de Chine 500-mile Race on the China Sea in the Philippines, and he twice finished third in the Hog’s Breath 1000, and finished second in the 1990 Tahiti Cat Challenge.
Tragically, Carlton suddenly passed away in May of 1998, leaving behind a wife (Mary Alice) and two young children – Kaye Marie and Jim Hampton.
