The AYRS John Hogg Prize

The AYRS John Hogg Prize is awarded in memory of John Hogg, the distinguished amateur yachting researcher, who died on July 24th 2000. The prize of £1000 was established to commemorate John’s life and work.

The aim of this international award is to encourage and recognise important contributions to the understanding and development of sailing performance, safety and endurance.

Jan Alkema

Jan became interested in selfsteering gears in 1972 following purchase of the AYRS book Self Steering. He found that the commonly accepted windvane with the near horizontal vane axis is not the best solution possible. The influence of heel seems to have been completely overlooked. Adjusting the vane axis to compensate the heel angle was a good step forward. A few years later he invented the upside down vane. This vane takes into account the effect of heel and adapts its action to the needs of various courses. It is now well tried and tested.

QUERIES: Send email to the AYRS Secretary

NEXT AWARD: Entries for the next award of the John Hogg Prize should be made by 1st October 2007. For details see this page