IN MEMORIAM DABNEY OVERTON III 7/30/63 – 11/9/09

Dabney Overton III, age 46, died on November 9, 2009, in Richmond, VA. He is survived by his sister, Hannah Overton, and nieces, Emma and Lizzie Schmidt, all of Tappahannock; a half-sister, Mallory Overton McKendry, of Jacksonville, FL; and his father, Dabney Overton Jr., of Harrisonburg. Dabney was a graduate of Aylett Country Day School and St. Christopher’s School. He graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1986.

Dabney became a member of FBYC in 1999 after he and Matt Braun bought a Front Runner, which they campaigned together for two years. By the time he joined FBYC, however, Dabney had spent many years sailing and racing with FBYC skippers. He logged many Bay and sea miles with Murray Bayliss on Hornblower, and he crewed for Brent Halsey on Sweet Witch in the early 1990’s and on Stormking from the late 1990’s until she retired from the racecourse. Dabney has been a mainstay of the crew on Allan Heyward’s La Maga every season since she arrived at FBYC in 2001. He found time, when his “regular rides” weren’t racing, to sail and race on Paradox, Wavelength, Elancer, Oracle, Dawn Treader (old and new), and mehitabel. His most unusual “moonlighting” in FBYC racing events was his stint as a racing oarsman on Explorer, the Deltaville Maritime Museum’s replica of John Smith’s shallop in the Great Chesapeake Shallop Race, a/k/a the 2007 “Rendezvous of the John Smith Shallops”. Dabney became the owner of Liquid, an Ericson 27, in 2005.

After joining FBYC, Dabney served as Offshore Division Race Chair in 2003 and was a regular volunteer on Race Committees. He was awarded the Allen B. Fine perpetual trophy in 2001, given annually to the outstanding crewman on a FBYC boat.

Allan Heyward described Dabney this way: “Dabney was a joy to sail with. He was focused and competitive on the race course and gave everything he had every time he went out. But even racing, he never lost sight of the fact that he sailed for fun. He truly loved being on a sailboat and the camaraderie of shipmates, and it showed. Although an accomplished all-around sailor, he preferred the foredeck. He was a patient teacher of aspiring bowmen (and women) and an equally good student, always willing to learn new ways of doing things. He was a gentle man and a great shipmate. He will be missed by everyone who had the good fortune to sail with him.” These same thoughts were echoed by Matt Braun, Brent Halsey and others who were fortunate enough to know and sail with Dabney.

A Memorial Service for Dabney will be held at St. Paul’s Church, 7924 Richmond Tappahannock Hwy., Millers Tavern, VA, at 2:00 p.m. on November 22, 2009. Memorial donations may be made in Dabney’s memory to Aylett Country Day School, P.O. Box 70, Millers Tavern, VA 12115; St. Christopher’s School, 711 St. Christopher’s Road, Richmond, VA 23226; or the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 1108 East Main Street, Suite 1600, Richmond, VA 23219.