SUMMER 2019
SW
072
In September 1982, Gary Jobson
rolled into the Yacht Racing/
Cruising Hall of Fame Regatta
with a young squad that
included Hank Stuart and
Jud Smith. “Hank was sailing
12-Meters with me at the
time,” Jobson says. “Dave
Curtis recommended this guy,
Jud Smith, who I knew noth-
ing about at the time.” The
threesome drew the slow-
est boat from the lottery, but
after jettisoning its outboard,
a pile of sails and a few cases
of beer from the bilge, the
boat was fast enough to beat
Buddy Melges, Dennis Conner
and Paul Elvström.
PHOTO: SAILING WORLD
ARCHIVESFrom his humble beginnings
in dinghy sailing to the grand-
slam of professional sailing,
2012 National Sailing Hall of
Fame inductee John Kostecki
is hard to top when it comes
to results: an Olympic silver
medal, a hard-fought win in
the Volvo Ocean Race and an
America’s Cup victory in 2010.
Growing up on the waters
of San Francisco Bay gave
Kostecki the skills to win a
Sunfish World Championship
at age 18, and his career con-
tinues to this day. Shown
here at the 1982 J/24 Worlds
in San Francisco, won by
John Kolius’s Cheap Sunglasses
(in background).
PHOTO: LOUIS KRUKBeginning in 1978, Hawaii’s
Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor
was a lively place every even-
numbered year with the arrival
of a grand-prix sailing fleet for
the Kenwood Cup. Conditions
o¢ Honolulu broke rigs and gear
and bruised bodies and egos,
but the sailing was spectacular.
The 1990s were a vibrant era for
the 12-day regatta, but with the
loss of its namesake sponsor in
2002, the event shuttered for
good. The yacht Gaucho, a Farr
44, was owned by Peter Gordon,
who enlisted the tactical ser-
vices of both John Bertrand,
of Annapolis, Maryland, and
Paul Cayard, of San Diego.
PHOTO: FRANCO PACE/DPPIProfessional navigator and
author, Peter Isler, has always
been one for gadgets that help
him look smarter as a top-level
tactician, including this cus-
tom electronic compass and
stadimeter—an instrument
for measuring the distance of
an object of known height—
developed for Dennis Conner’s
America’s Cup Stars & Stripes
by KVH Industries.
PHOTO: SAILING WORLD
ARCHIVES