National Sailing Hall of Fame Celebrates With Balboa and Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs

The National Sailing Hall of Fame took this year’s induction ceremony on the road, to the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California.

This year’s “class” joins the 114 current inductees. It is an impressive class, with several hailing from the West Coast. Included this year are Elwood “Skip” Etchells; Tim Hogan from Los Angeles; Peter Holmberg; Sally Honey, who lives in the S.F. Bay Area; John Kolius; William “Bill” Lapworth; John Marshall, who was part of Stars & Stripes design teams on multiple campaigns; Charles “Charley” Morgan; Designer Robert Perry from the Pacific Northwest; and Richard “Dick” Stearns III.

“We’re immensely proud of our inductees this year, as they represent everything we love most about the sport,” said Gary Jobson, co-president of the National Sailing Hall of Fame and emcee of this year’s event. “Their contributions to the world of sailing have deeply impacted and touched all of our lives, and each of them have created a hefty legacy for the rest of us to live up to.”

Winners from the West Coast include the Bay Area’s Sally Honey, Tim Hogan from Newport Beach, naval architect Bob Perry from Seattle, WA, and Bill Lapworth of Los Angeles.

Tim Hogan grew up sailing in Newport Beach, California. He went on to the University of Southern California and was a three-time All-American sailor. Since 2005 he has been president of the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA). In the process he has become the champion of building interscholastic sailing in the United States. Hogan and his board virtually doubled the roster of teams over the past 20 years from around 330, until at the end of 2022 there were 626 high schools with competitive sailing teams.

Sally Honey has twice been named Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (1973, 1974), and most recently shared an inspiring victory, winning the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race with her husband Stan Honey aboard their 56-year-old Cal 40 Illusion. Honey has been a leader in safety at sea and is the author of US Sailing’s Safety at Sea: A Guide to Safety Under Sail and Personal Survival. She has also been chair of several independent review panels studying calamities at sea. She has served on World Sailing’s Offshore Special Regulations Committee for many years, sitting currently as chairperson.

“The breadth of options offered by our sport is one of the best things about sailing,” Honey said. “I have benefited from my wide-ranging experiences with sailing throughout my life.

“I was fortunate to grow up in a sailing family,” she continued. “Whatever class I sailed, I have always been accepted based on my skill level. It has been my experience that sailing can be a great equalizer, no matter one’s strengths or weaknesses.”

William “Bill” Lapworth partnered with Jack Jensen to build Cal 20s, and later, one of the most popular yachts ever, the Cal 40. Lapworth was one of the first naval architects to successfully embrace the boatbuilding industry’s change from wood to fiberglass. Lapworth and Jensen collaborated on 32 different designs with Cal Yachts. Lapworth cruised for many years on his own Cal Cruising 46 with his wife Peggy and their five children.

Renowned West Coast naval architect Robert “Bob” Perry grew up in Australia, then moved to Seattle with his family when he was 12. He grew up sailing Penguins and eventually began drawing boats, with his career taking off on the success of the Valiant 40. He went on to design for many builders, including Tayana, Cheoy Lee, Valiant, Baba, Ta Shing, Hans Christian Yachts, Islander, Passport, Pacific Seacraft, and Saga. It would be hard to find a harbor in the world that hasn’t been visited by a yacht designed by Bob Perry.

Other winners included Olympic and America’s Cup sailor John Kolius from Houston, Texas; New England Olympic medalist John Marshall, who was in several America’s Cup campaigns and was president of North Sails; designer, builder, America’s Cup campaigner and founder of Morgan Yachts, Charles “Charley” Morgan from Florida; and Richard “Dick” Stearns III from Illinois, who won the International Star Class World Championship in 1962, and in 1964 earned a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Stearns competed in 53 Chicago to Mackinac Island races, winning in 2000 aboard his 35-year-old Cal 40, Elwood Widmer. “Skip” Etchells founded his own boatbuilding company, the Old Greenwich Boat Company, and developed the Etchells 22. And finally, Caribbean sailor Peter Holmberg (graduate of Sonoma State University), who won Olympic medals in the Finn class and four Congressional Cups in Long Beach, plus three America’s Cup campaigns and numerous maxi and other successful racing series.

You can watch the full induction ceremony below:

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