Hap McCollum joins that giant sailboat race in the sky

[Keeldude@xxxxxxx]

On a Friday evening in  July 1979 I was standing on the porch of the  Austin 
Yacht Club where the Governor's Cup Regatta was to be held that weekend.  I 
was looking anybody from the Fireball fleet as I had just moved to Austin and,  
although I had my sails, my Fireball and Sidewinder were still in Erie PA.
Hap McCollum didn't even bother to introduce himself or get my name.   He 
made the following offer.
"I have a Laser on dock two. My sails and stuff are in locker #52. The mast  
is a little bent."
 
That was my first encounter with Hap and it was absolutely not out of  
character. I found the boat by looking for a bent mast. 
 
A couple years after that I was starting up a fiberglass repair business  and 
Hap offered me a space in the building behind Sail Away. Hap and a few  
buddies sold sailboats built by San Juan (Dennis Clark's Dad), Prindle, US 1,  Me
rit, Columbia, and I don't remember what else.
 
Hap taught me how to haul boats from the lake, a ton about where to buy  
materials, how to lift boats with hoists, how to drop pads on trailers without  
dropping boats on top of myself, and because he told his friends ( all 1,000,000 
 of them) that my work was pretty good, I have never had a day without more  
business than I can handle.
 
When we were hosting the first Easter Laser Regatta in 1984, Hap was Austin  
Yacht Club Commodore. It just happened we were having a huge drought, the lake 
 had dropped twenty feet, and the docks had to be moved from the harbor to  
the main lake. I had only asked the board for permission to host the event two  
weeks prior to the event and nobody really believed anyone would show up. The 
 AYC committee boats double as club work boats and the only "committee" boat 
I  had was a J-24 with a 2 horse Honda.. We had 38 boats and 15 to 20 mph  
winds and it was too cold for sailing without decent rescue boats.  Hap,  
starting at 8:45 am on Saturday, found three powerboats complete with their  owners 
as drivers and at 10:00 am we had the first start of my many Easter Laser  
Regattas.
 
Hap's impact on the Laser fleet was the least of his impact on our local  
sailing scene. 
 
Hap's contributions to sailing can be seen anywhere you look at the Austin  
Yacht Club.  He left a front end loader from his business a the AYC for  many 
months during that 1984 drought and paid the man who operated it while  
excavation was done. Every time the lake fell a couple more feet Hap put  together a 
concrete pour. Our Hap built ramps now extend from 638 to 684 feet  above sea 
level.
Hap is the guy who decided to blast away the old bathroom and build a real  
office with full showers and etc below it. (Yes, he blew rocks all over the  
harbor by using WAY too much dynamite but I digress)
 
Obviously, I could write for hours and hours about Hap and not run out of  
great stuff. Every club has folks who could be found on lists as the most loved, 
 best contributor, most fun, most trusted, and similar. Among the members and 
 guests to AYC since the 1970s, Hap would show up near the top on most of  
those lists. 
 
Friday night he sailed the beer can race and had burgers and beers after  
with lots of his friends. 
 
Tuesday there will be a memorial service.
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