National Sailing Hall of Fame Welcomes Eleven Legends to its Ranks

 

From top left moving clockwise: Alexander Bryan and Cortlandt Heyniger, William Carl Buchan, Agustin Diaz, Gilbert T. Gray, Lynne Jewell Shore, Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce, Jane Wiswell Pegel, Captain William D. Pinkney (Lifetime Achievement), Dawn Riley and Richard Rose.

 

The National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) announced the induction of eleven sailors during its 11^th ceremony, held on Saturday, October 16^th, 2021, in Newport, Rhode Island. The Class of 2021 includes:

 

■       Alexander “Red” Bryan and Cortlandt “Bud” Heyniger – founders of Alcort, Inc. and designers and producers of the iconic Sunfish.

■       William “Carl” Buchan – championship sailor, Olympic gold medal winner and 1988 defender of the America’s Cup.

■       Agustin “Augie” Diaz – Rolex Yachtsman of the Year; Star, Snipe and Laser World Champion; and 505 North American Champion.

■       Gilbert T. Gray – Olympic gold medalist in the Star Class debut Olympiad, race official and chief measurer.

■       Lynne Jewell Shore – one of the first women to win an Olympic gold medal in sailing, Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and former Executive Director of Sail Newport.

■       Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce – the founder of the U.S. Naval War College (1884) and leading educator on seamanship and training for the Navy.

■       Jane Wiswell Pegel – a three-time Martini & Rossi (now Rolex) Yachtswoman of the Year and winner of several National and North American Championships in sailing and iceboating.

■       Dawn Riley – the first woman ever to manage an America’s Cup syndicate and the first American to sail in three America’s Cups and two Whitbread Round the World (now The Ocean Race) races.

■       Richard “Dick” Rose – a thirty-year member of World Sailing’s Racing Rules of Sailing Committee, he is considered “the” international authority on the Racing Rules of Sailing.

■       The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for 2021 is Captain William D. “Bill” Pinkney, the first African American to solo-circumnavigate the world via the Capes.

 

“The men and women we recognize today do not live in a world of make believe,” said Gus Carlson, president of the National Sailing Hall of Fame, as the induction commenced. “They do not hide and hope for someone to save them. They change things themselves. When it comes to measuring their lives, they do so by testing them … and there is no question they have passed those tests.”

 

The members of the Class of 2021 joined 90 current Hall of Famers, all of whom will be featured in the Legends of Sailing exhibition at The Sailing Museum, which is scheduled to open in May of 2022. Induction was held in the newly renovated Armory Building and future home of The Sailing Museum, which also served as the former site of the international press corps during the 12 Metre America’s Cup era. The Ceremony also honored members of the Class of 2020 who were recognized in a virtual ceremony last year.

 

The Induction Weekend was a reunion of sailing’s Who’s Who as previous inductees joined the celebrations to welcome their peers into the Hall of Fame. Existing Hall of Famers in attendance included: Betsy Alison, Ed Baird, Stephen Colgate, Robbie Doyle, Robbie Haines, Peter Harken, Stan Honey, Gary Jobson, Bob Johnston, Allison Jolly, Dave Perry, Mark Reynolds, John Rousmaniere and Tom Whidden.

 

Providing introductory and congratulatory remarks, US Sailing President Cory Sertl welcomed inductees and guests. As they took the podium to accept their honors, each of the inductees expressed their gratitude, thanked those who inspired and supported them throughout their careers, recognized the achievements of those who came before them and illustrated what it means to be part of the great sport of sailing.

 

“I cannot express accurately the emotions today that I feel, it’s really overwhelming,” said Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Captain Pinkney. “The sea provides the most level playing field of any sport. It cares nothing about your age, your sex, your color, your religion, your nationality. And your ability, or lack thereof, will be extracted in a short period of time by a stiff breeze, a squall or a storm.”

 

Inductees were nominated by sailors from across the United States. Nominations were reviewed by a selection committee comprised of representatives from the NSHOF Board, previous inductees, the sailing media, the sailing industry, community sailing, a maritime museum, the cruising community and US Sailing. Nominations are accepted year-round at nshof.org/nominations. The deadline for Class of 2022 nominees is January 31.

 

For more information, please visit: nshof.org.

 

*Excerpts from all acceptance speeches are below.

 

To make this all a little more balanced and not just about racing check out our: Superheros of Cruising

https://aleriasadventures.blogspot.com/2021/10/superheroes-of-cruising.html

 

Remarks from the 2021 Inductees to the National Sailing Hall of Fame

“What our families are most proud of is that at a time when all of America was trying to get back to normal family life after the war, Alcort made a boat that was inexpensive, especially in kit form, fairly portable and very easy to sail. It introduced thousands to the basics of sailing and the freedom and exhilaration it can bring.” Sage Dunlap Chase

“Anything I’ve ever done sailing/racing wise, I’ve always done it because I enjoyed it and it was fun. Any project has never been contingent on the winning… I’ve always wanted to win… but I think I enjoyed the preparation, and that includes working on the boat and getting that ready, sailing for the pure joy of it, the competition, seeing old friends and meeting new ones.” Carl Buchan

“My sailing career comes down to the people I have sailed with and the mentors there have been along the way! … The most important thing I learned from my father was how to be a sportsman. My father sailed with a great sense of fairness and that’s something that I've been able to learn from him and try to execute on.” Augie Diaz

“What a magnificent foundation you have here honoring the many people who have made significant contributions to the world of sailing and sailors over the many decades. Praise to the current and prior inductees in the National Sailing Hall Fame and congrats to the people who put this together and the people who run this fine organization allowing sailors to get recognition that otherwise might go unnoticed. Thank you for letting me honor and share my admiration of Gilbert for joining this group of lifetime achievers.” David Vosbein, Gilbert’s nephew

“I am part of the Title IX generation so it never occurred to me there would be separate events for each sex. Some opportunities for women were limited, but I wanted to compete against the top athletes in the field, and more often than not those athletes were men. It wasn’t easy, there were hours spent in the gym working on my physical strength and I invested a lot of time building up my mental toughness. Resilience, determination, and fearlessness all played a part in becoming a strong top athlete… there was no other way. Jane Pegel, Jan O’Malley; Timmy Larr, to name a few, were a part of the first generation of sailors to go up against top ranking male sellers. It was not an easy thing to do, but their first step in the ring laid the foundation for me and a new generation of female sailors, several of whom have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame. I hope by following their example, I have continued to pave the way for the next generation of female sailors.” Lynne Jewell Shore

“I am pleased to be inducted into the Sailing Hall of Fame … it’s a true honor to join the ranks of national top sailors. Growing up on Lackey Drive in Williams Bay Wisconsin, sailing was the neighborhood thing. As a first-generation sailor I learned how to sail by the trial-and-error method. Those in the know ‘round Geneva Lake told my father Dr. Clifford Wiswell the sort of equipment I should have whether it be sailing equipment or ice boating equipment. I learned many valuable lessons competing against great sailors and watching great sailors in action.” Jane Pegel

“He is someone I have always felt close to because of growing up in a navy family and seeing how much my father admired him. I would say this, in my own words, no one loved the sea as much, or believed in the sailor as much, or was a man of higher principle than Admiral Stephen B. Luce.” Anne Dubose Joslin, great grandniece of S.B. Luce.

“Having three women and Bill, who is kickass, in this group is amazing. And I want to recognize that we need to continue to do this in all of our teams whether it’s business or sailing. We know that for some groups it’s 10 times harder to get in, so can we all just agree to ask three times more: How are you? Would you like to come sailing? Have you ever been sailing? … I see a future in our sport with equity, equality, diversity and with leaders who naturally ask these questions.” Dawn Riley

“I’ve had a goal that I wanted to preserve the sport with its basic principle that we govern, we follow the rules, we don’t need umpires and we don’t need referees. And I’ve wanted to see it grow as I think it’s such a magnificent game. It’s three games in one: you’re against Mother Nature, you’re against your boat …  you’ve got to tame your boat you’ve got to bring your boat under control, and it’s a chess game where all the players and the pieces on the board are in motion and you have to position your boat relative to that. But if we don’t have a set of rules, we don’t have that game. The rules govern the tactics greatly, but they also make it so that the boats come home in relatively large pieces.” Dick Rose

To watch the entire induction ceremony please click here.