Robert Edward Turner III is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television, which later became TBS.
Harry C. "Buddy" Melges Jr. was an American competitive sailor. He earned national and international championships in several classes in conventional sailing and ice-boating and is widely regarded as one of the top racing sailors of all time.
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.
Francis Conn Findlay was an American Olympic rower and sailor. He won four Olympic medals in those two sports, including two golds in coxed pair. He was also part of the America's Cup sailing crews that won in 1974 and 1977. He is one of 11 sailors to have won both the America's Cup and an Olympic medal.
The 1983 America's Cup was a 12-metre class yacht racing series which pitted the defending New York Yacht Club's Liberty against the Royal Perth Yacht Club's challenger, Australia II. The September 1983 series of match races was won by Australia II, with four race wins to three, in the first successful challenge of the New York Yacht Club's 132-year defense of the Cup. The Australian syndicate's boat, skippered by John Bertrand, fought back from a 3–1 deficit to best the Dennis Conner-helmed defender, ending both the longest winning streak in sporting history and U.S. domination of the racing series.
Gordon K. "Sandy" Douglass was an American racer, designer, and builder of sailing dinghies. Two of his designs, the Thistle and the Flying Scot, are among the most popular one design racing classes in the United States. The Flying Scot was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame. As a small boat racer, Douglass was five times the North American champion in the 10 Square Meter International Sailing Canoe, five times the United States national champion in the Thistle, and seven times the Flying Scot North American champion.
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. 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.
Mark Jeffrey Reynolds is an American Star class sailor and Olympic champion. He has sailed Stars since age four, training with his father James Reynolds who was the 1971 World Champion.
The Sailing Museum and National Sailing Hall of Fame 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.
Jennifer J. Isler, best known as J. J. Isler and also known by her maiden name of J. J. Fetter, is an American yachtswoman. She is a two-time Olympic medalist and a world sailing champion. She was a starting helmsman in the 1995 America's Cup races. A pioneer in the sport of women's sailing, in 2005 she was the first woman inducted into the Sailing World Hall of Fame and in 2015, she was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
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.
The 1980 America's Cup was held in September 1980 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, Freedom, skippered by Dennis Conner, defeated the Australian challenger, Australia, skippered by James Hardy, four races to one. This was the last successful defense of the cup by the New York Yacht Club and the last defender designed by the naval architectural firm Sparkman & Stephens. It was the sixth unsuccessful challenge by Australia and the third by Alan Bond.
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.
David Noel Robins, OAM was an Australian sailor. He began sailing as a child, and became partially quadriplegic after receiving a spinal fracture from a car crash at the age of 21. He was the skipper of Australia in the 1977 America's Cup, won the 1981 Admiral's Cup, and won a gold medal in sailing at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. He died on 22 May 2003, four weeks after being struck by a car.
The 1977 America's Cup was held in September 1977 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, Courageous, skippered by Ted Turner, defeated the Australian challenger, Australia, skippered by Noel Robins, in a four-race sweep. Courageous' greatest winning margin out of all four races was 2 minutes and 23 seconds. It was the second unsuccessful challenge by Alan Bond.
Stuart Hodge Walker was an American Olympic yachtsman, writer, and a professor of pediatrics. He competed as a sailor at the Olympic Games; won many national and international championships in different classes and wrote over ten books.
The 1974 America's Cup was held in September 1974 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, Courageous, skippered by Ted Hood, defeated the Australian challenger, Southern Cross, skippered by James Hardy, in a four-race sweep.
Malin Burnham is an American sailor, real estate developer and philanthropist from San Diego, California.
Grant Simmer is an Australian sailor and yacht designer who has competed in multiple America's Cups.
Jan Chance O'Malley is an American sailor who was named US Sailor of the Year three times: in 1969, 1970, and 1977.
