America's Cup Legend Ted Hood Dies

We lost another wonderful 12 Meter sailor yesterday.  America's Cup helmsman and sail maker, Ted Hood, died yesterday, June 28, at age 86.

Ted Hood was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1993.  He was the skipper of COURAGEOUS, which defeated SOUTHERN CROSS in four straight races in 1974. SOUTHERN CROSS was a fast boat that had badly beaten FRANCE in the challengers' trials, but she proved to be a terrible disappointment in the Cup finals. She was beaten by large margins in the final two races, the last race being the worst: 7 minutes, 19 seconds.

In 1976, Ted Hood designed and built INDEPENDENCE, an aluminum 12-Meter he campaigned in the 1977 defender trials, ultimately losing to Ted Turner and COURAGEOUS.

Ted Hood first became prominent as a sail maker and designer, by producing spectacularly successful spinnakers for the early America's Cup 12 meter yachts. Then, his mainsails and jibs became the standard, made from state-of-the-art dacron fabrics developed by Hood Yacht Systems. As an America's Cup skipper, he developed a reputation for picking good people and then counting on them to do their job. This philosophy allowed him to sail an error-free series against SOUTHERN CROSS and turn what could have been a close series into a rout.

12 Meter Charters salutes Mr. Hood and all his fabulous contributions to America's Cup sailing!