Best known as an Olympic gold medallist, America’s Cup and TP52 tactician as well as an excellent sailing coach – as is his brother Charlie – US Sailing Hall of Fame inductee Jonathan McKee also paid his dues offshore. Cruelly robbed of winning the Mini Transat at his first attempt by a dismasting when comfortably leading the 2003 race, McKee continued his oceanic exploits racing the 2006 Barcelona World Race (above) with co-skipper Guillermo Altadill on Estrella Damm and the 2007 Volvo with Kenny Read on Il Mostro
It may have been eclipsed by far-off stretches of speed freakery
in foreign climes, but Weymouth is still on the speed sailor’s bucket list. Long live a unique gathering of some quite fascinating people. Magnus Wheatley
USA
Achievers Heroes in the culture of sailing in the US are often different from those who are in the media headlines in other cultures. Part of this is because the US is so large and diverse that innovation and talent have been able historically to grow both laterally and vertically in all sectors of the ‘activity’. To recognise those who have been outstanding in their achievements the US National Sailing Hall of Fame chooses inductees who are not only America’s Cup or Olympic or World champions, they have to be more… namely to have been innovative and inspiring to the sport in ways that attract others to come play. For the past 12 years the Hall of Fame has annually welcomed
a new group of individuals who fit these criteria, and this year’s class has been especially impressive with some who have influenced the sport well beyond the borders of the USA. These include: Bruce Farr A ‘talented’ native Kiwi transplanted to Annapolis in
1981, Farr and his team have been dominant in yacht design for decades. Farr designs won probably every major inshore and off- shore race or championship event at least once through the 1980s and ’90s in IOR and IMS, and were also at the forefront with suc- cessful big boat one-design classes. They have designed boats in no fewer than seven America’s Cups (although that particular shelf space at the Farr office for the Auld Mug remains unfilled). Garry Hoyt An accomplished sailor who competed in three
Olympics, Hoyt is probably best known for having pioneered the design of simplified but fast cruising yachts with unstayed masts built under the Freedom brand. Bill Lee A pioneer of ‘alternative yacht design’, Lee set off a
revolution in popularising the Fast is Fun philosophy based in Santa Cruz, California, first notifying the rest of the offshore racing world when in 1977 his 67ft Merlin crushed the elapsed time record in the 2,225nm Transpac Race from LA to Honolulu. Adhering to the prevalent IOR rating limit of 70ft, instead of the large, heavy and cumbersome Maxis that plowed the road in this era, Lee designed and built sleek, narrow and light designs known as Ultra Light
Displacement Boat (ULDB) Sleds that were a fraction of the cost to build, with half the crew, and excelled in the mostly offwind sailing scene on the Pacific coast. Their versatility was thereafter also recognised when they became popular (and set course records) in other venues as well, particularly on the US Great Lakes. Jonathan McKeeOne of the most versatile talents in US sailing,
an Olympic gold medallist in the Flying Dutchman class, McKee was also head coach for the 1992 US Olympic team that harvested medals in nine out of 10 classes, and is now racing offshore in clever designs by another Seattle native, Paul Bieker. But for a last hours’ dismasting McKee would also have won the 2003 Mini Transat… at his first attempt. A mighty impressive sailor. Roy DisneyRoy was an active and influential offshore owner and
sailor throughout the 1980s–2000s, with his various Pyewackets winning and setting records in the Transpac and elsewhere. But he was involved in more than just competing: his commitment to inno- vation helped push new limits in design, while his support of the Morning Light youth TP52 programme helped inspire and train a new generation of US offshore sailing talent. Disney’s recognition is in receiving a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award. Terry Kohler Lowell North was always an innovator in sail design
and fabrication, and built North Sails based on a solid grounding in science, testing and quality control, along with getting the best talent he could find to sell his products. Yet when he sold North Sails to Terry Kohler in 1983 the company was able to shift into overdrive in that commitment – Terry was also a scientist and shared Lowell’s vision of innovation, investing enough capital to realise significant advances in sailmaking technology and build North into the world’s largest sailmaker. Kohler was recognised as well for supporting the Women’s International Match Racing Association which helped propel female teams to Olympic-calibre levels of talent. Kohler too has received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award. Will the latest generation of sailors recognise and appreciate these
figures who have helped build the foundations of the sport they now enjoy, even if they are racing in craft unrecognisable to their prede- cessors? Let’s hope so. As with good wine, the deep roots of this sport can yield great
results. Though the best often take quite a while before they finally become obvious! Dobbs Davis
q SEAHORSE 33
ESTRELLA/DPPI
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