Dunbar wins Boater of the Year award

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Bart Dunbar, chair of the nonprofit organization Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) and president of Bowen’s Wharf Company, has been named 2015 John H. Chafee Boater of the Year by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association (RIMTA).

The John H. Chafee Boater of the Year award recognizes and honors an individual who has contributed to the success of the recreational boating industry in Rhode Island or championed the cause of bringing recreational boating to the public. Past recipients includes Ted Hood, Sr., Halsey Herreshoff, Ken Read and Rome Kirby. 

RIMTA President Dick Cromwell and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit, who was 2013 Boater of the Year, presented the award to Dunbar at a press conference held Jan. 23 at the Providence Boat Show.

Coit applauded Dunbar’s “vision and tenacity to make things happen in the way no others do.” She described his contributions to helping more individuals gain access to sailing as “seminal and lasting.” They include his key roles in the development of Bowen’s Wharf and the incorporation of the American Sail Training Association (now Tall Ships America) in the early 1970s; the co-founding of Sail Newport after the loss of the America’s Cup in 1983; and last but certainly not least, bringing the 200-foot SSV Oliver Hazard Perry to life. The three-masted, square rigged tall ship has been written into legislature as Rhode Island’s Official Sailing Education Vessel and will begin its education-at-sea programs this spring in partnership with various educational institutions while additionally offering camp opportunities for teens and sailing adventures for adults.

“This is deeply appreciated, and I’m very humbled,” said Dunbar. “This has been all about partnerships, and we’ve had a tremendous partnership with RIMTA and incredible support from its members and from the State. When SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is at her berth at Fort Adams this summer, the people of Rhode Island are going to be as proud of their Tall Ship as we have been in building her.”

By Ocean Navigator