Old Guard Trophy
The Old Guard Trophy is awarded to the winner of the annual Old Guard Race, an event open to members of the Old Guard who are the top fifty people who have maintained their memberships for the longest period of time. We continue to search for early Old Guard records. We do know that the race and its trophy were reactivated in 1970, held in M-20s that year, but stopped after 1983 for 20 years. The Old Guard Trophy, a silver vase in use for this purpose since 2009, is awarded to the Old Guard member at the helm of the winning boat. The trophy is engraved “First Prize Lake Geneva August 8, 1896.” Its past is a mystery, but from 1982 to 2003 the vase was called the First Prize Trophy and was awarded to the winner of a championship series race in the J-24 Class. In 2009, it again assumed new life when Trophy Committee Chairman Robert E. Pegel found it in the Yacht Club basement and recommended it to the Board of Directors as an appropriate trophy for the Old Guard Race.
J-24 Class, Championship Series Race winner
- 1982 Clayton Gaylord
- 1983 Tom Fiedler
- 1984 Don Frankel
- 1985 Don Frankel
- 1986 Don Frankel
- 1987 Clayton Gaylord
- 1988 John Mick
- 1989 Steve Schalk
- 1990 Peter King
- 1991 Steve Schalk
- 1992 John Mick
- 1993 John Mick
- 1994 Steve Schalk
- 1995 John Mick
- 1996 John Mick
- 1997 Wendell Sherry
- 1998 John Mick
- 1999 Ron Bjurstrom
- 2000 Ron Bjurstrom
- 2001 Ron Bjurstrom
- 2002 Tony Trajkovitch
- 2003 No race
Old Guard Race
- 1970 George H. Kiefer Jr.
- 1971
- 1972 Andy Carlson
- 1973 George H. Kiefer Jr.
- 1974 George H. Kiefer Jr.
- 1975 George H. Kiefer Jr.
- 1976 Katie Deeley
- 1977
- 1978 Andy Carlson
- 1979 Andy Carlson
- 1980 Andy Carlson
- 1981 Andy Carlson
- 1982 Andy Carlson
- 1983 Andy Carlson
- 2004 Jim Smith
- 2005 Chris Goes
- 2009 Jim Smith
- 2010 Bob Winter
- 2011 George Kummer, Jerry Millsap, Ron Schloemer
- 2012 No race
- 2013 No Race
- 2014 No Race
- 2015 Bill Freytag, Jerry Millsap, John Zils
- 2016 No Race
- 2017 No Race
- 2018 No Race
- 2019 No Race
- 2020 No Race
- 2021 No Race
- 2022 No Race
- 2023 No Race