The America's Cup Hall of Fame, located at the Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup sailing competition. Candidates eligible for consideration include skippers, afterguard, crew, designers, builders, organizers, syndicate managers, supporters, chroniclers, race managers, and other individuals of merit. [1] A selection committee of twenty-two members consisting of former America's Cup participants, yachting historians, and yachting journalists annually selects a class of one to four inductees. Rolex, Louis Vuitton, and Prada have been sponsors of the Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies.
The Hall of Fame's museum, a division of the Herreshoff Marine Museum, features plaques of the inductees and permanent and temporary exhibitions of artifacts related to the America's Cup. [2] The museum's library contains one of the largest collections of manuscripts and books related to the America's Cup and yachting history.
Halsey C. Herreshoff, former president of the Herreshoff Marine Museum and three-time America's Cup winner, founded the Hall of Fame in 1992. [3] In the following year, on September 18, eighteen "charter" inductees were honored at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. Since then, over ninety inductees have joined the Hall of Fame.
|
|
|
|
The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy and the other from the yacht club that is challenging for the cup. There is no fixed schedule, with matches held several years apart on dates agreed between the defender and the challenger. The most recent America's Cup match took place in March 2021.
Australia II is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successful Cup challenger, ending a 132-year tenure by the New York Yacht Club.
Harry C. "Buddy" Melges Jr. is a competitive sailor. He has earned national and international championships in several classes in conventional sailing and ice-boating.
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893-1920.
Bruce Robert William Kirby, was a Canadian-born sailboat designer, dinghy and offshore racer and journalist. His designs spanned in size from the single-handed Laser dinghy to the 12-meter class Louis Vuitton Cup yacht, Canada One. He continued his design work in his American company, Bruce Kirby Marine.
Paul Pierre Cayard is an American yachtsman and professional sailor. He has competed at multiple world championship level sailing events, including the America's Cup, the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games. In 1998 he was selected as the US Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. He has won seven world championships, twice participated in the Olympic Games and seven times in the America's Cup. In 2011 he was elected into the US Sailing Hall of Fame.
John Cutler is a competitive sailor for New Zealand who won a bronze medal in the Finn Class at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. He was also selected for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and was a sailing coach for the New Zealand team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Cutler has subsequently competed for a number of different syndicates in the America's Cup. He was born in Manchester, England.
The Herreshoff Marine Museum, located in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, is a maritime museum dedicated to the history of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, yachting, and the America's Cup. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company (1878–1945) was most notable for producing sailing yachts, including eight America's Cup defenders, and steam-powered vessels.
Charles Barr, was an accomplished sailing skipper who three times captained winning America's Cup yachts.
Gary Jobson is a sailor, television commentator and author based in Annapolis, Maryland. He is a Vice President of the International Sailing Federation. Gary has authored 19 sailing books and is Editor at Large of Sailing World and Cruising World magazines. He is President of the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
The National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating its value as a hands-on tool for teaching math and science. The organization was established in 2005.
Thomas David Blackaller, Jr. was a world-champion American yachtsman, America's Cup helmsman, sailmaker, and racecar competitor. He was a two-time world champion in the Star class keelboat, a world champion in the international Six metre class, raced in three separate America's Cup campaigns, and influenced the careers of many other sailors.
John Scott Biddle was a foremost yachting cinematographer and lecturer, establishing a film-making career that spanned more than forty years. His films captured not only the technical aspects of sailing but also the human story in events as tranquil as a Nova Scotia cruise and as grand as the America's Cup Races.
John Paul Kostecki is an American competitive sailor of Polish descent. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started his sailing career in the San Francisco Bay, California.
Thomas A. Whidden is one of the most-acclaimed sailors of all-time. He is a member of both the America's Cup Hall of Fame and the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Whidden joined North Sails, the world's largest sailmaker, in 1986, just before being part of the crew of the yacht Stars & Stripes in the victory over Australia in the 1987 America's Cup. He became CEO and co-owner of North Technology Group, formerly known as North Marine Group, parent company to North Sails, when it was established several years later.
Phillip Edward "Ed" Baird is an American sailor. He was a coach of the 1995 America's Cup-winning Team New Zealand and a helmsman for the 2007 America's Cup-winning Alinghi syndicate.
Halsey Chase Herreshoff is a naval architect of production and custom yachts, sailor and former president of Herreshoff Marine Museum. At the museum he and Edward duMoulin founded the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1992. Halsey is son of Algernon Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff (1886–1977) and Rebecca Chase and the grandson of the famous Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (1848–1938). As several before him in the Herreshoff family he studied Naval Architecture. At Webb Institute of Naval Architecture he finished a bachelor's degree and later a master's at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the US navy he achieved rank of Lieutenant before he started as a Naval Architect at the Bethlehem Steel Company and as a teacher at MIT. Halsey was involved in politics and was the elected chief executive officer in Bristol Town Council, Rhode Island from 1986 to 1994.
Stan Honey is an American professional offshore navigator with world sailing records and a businessman who founded Etak and Sportvision.
Peter Evans is a New Zealand sailor who has competed in two Olympic Games and in six America's Cup campaigns.
Timothea "Timmy" Larr is a naval architect and three-time winner of United States Women's Sailing Championship. She was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2013. She is also known for her work in developing training programs for sailors in the United States.