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Celebrating Olin Stephens

Posted 7 months, 9 days ago

Celebrating Olin Stephens
Olin Stephens celebrated his 100th birthday last weekend. To mark the milestone, I did a little digging to find out what some of the superstar sailors of Stephens' day had to say about this legendary yacht designer. Clinton Crane, author of Yachting Memories: "Sherman (Hoyt) and I watched Olin's development (since he was 14 or 15) as a designer and were much impressed with the thoughtfulness and originality of his work." Sherman Hoyt, America's Cup veteran affiliated with Sparkman & Stephens: "It was a pleasure to be with [S&S], where I could hang my hat when I wasn't off yachting. I believe those 20 years were the happiest of my life." Carleton Mitchell, Bermuda Race legend, on Stephens' contribution to the Columbia America's Cup campaign: "Olin Stephens' genius not only brought Columbia into being from a blank sheet of paper, but his skill as a sailor and attention to little things made him the principal architect of victory." Here's my Olin Stephens A to Z: A Aggressive B Brilliant C Courageous D Dorade E Excellence F Fast G Gracious H Hero I Intrepid J J Boat (our connection to the J-Boat era) K Keelboats L Lightning (another Olin Stephens design) M Mentor N New York Yacht Club (Member #1) O Outspoken P Passionate Q Quick R Rod (brother) S Steady T Technology U Uplifting V Valiant W Whirlwind X X-tra Y Yankee Z Zen Happy Birthday, Olin, and thank you! Full Story »

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