Sailors Honor Their Own

With another season in the books, the sailing world is spotlighting some of the best in their sport.

On the East Coast, the National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) inducted 11 sailors during a ceremony held October 16, 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 30-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

"I cannot express accurately the emotions that I feel, it's really overwhelming," Pinkney said of the honor. "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."

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 2022.

Madame Commodore

On the West Coast, the Newport Ocean Sailing Association has instilled the 2022 board of directors and welcomed Mary Bacon as commodore. It's only the second time in the organizations' history that a woman has taken the helm and guided the success of its signature sailing event — the Newport to Ensenada.

Bacon says she hopes to capitalize on the momentum created by the 2021 Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race, when more than 170 competitors stepped up to race while other events were sidelined and sailors were nervous coming out of the pandemic. Her goal is to increase participation, improve each competitor's experience, and reaffirm the ideals that racing N2E is for fun, for camaraderie, and the love of sailing, ideals that the founders built the organization upon in 1947.

"The best part of serving on the NOSA board has been working with an incredible group of knowledgeable racers and the amazing people in the yachting community," says Bacon. "And, of course, simply being part of this legendary race."

The prestigious nonprofit will celebrate N2E's historic 75th running in 2023.