Olin Stephens
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Olin James Stephens II (born 1908) has been described as the best-known and most successful yacht designer of the 20th century. His name is well known in connection with the America's Cup, as he assisted W. Starling Burgess on the J-Boats of the late 1930s, including Ranger, which won the Amererica's Cup in 1937, defeating Great Britain's Endeavor II in four races. In addition, he helped design six twelve-meter defenders which made up all the defenders that won the America's Cup from 1958 with the Columbia to 1980 with the Freedom, with the exception of the Weatherly in 1962. He has also designed many successful off-shore and stock boats, including the Dark Harbor 20, which he designed in 1934. His brother, Roderick Stephens, is also a well known yacht designer with whom he founded the renowned yacht-designing firm Sparkman & Stephens. Stephens was working in the Nevins shipyard in 1928 working as a drafter when he first met Drake Sparkman. They together in 1929 set up an office next door to Nevins.[1] Since retiring from the company he has been living in Putney, Vermont where he has been writing computer programs for designing yachts. He was awarded the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Award in 1965 for his contributions to sailing by the North American Yacht Racing Union. In 2000 Olin wrote the autobiography All This and Sailing Too.[2][3]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jones, Gregory O (October 1, 2001). The American Sailboat. MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7603-1002-5. p. 16
- ^ McKenna, Robert (June 10, 2003). The Dictionary of Nautical Literacy. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0-07-141950-0. p. 356.
- ^ Rousmaniere, John (May 1, 1987). Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of the Offshore Sailing Yacht. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-03311-2. p. 18.
