Gary Jobson

In the America's Cup and sailing, no voice is better known that of Gary Jobson. A champion sailor and Cup-winning tactician, Gary is better known world-wide as the warmly admired television commentator for six Cup matches carried by ESPN, beginning in 1987 at Perth. In his commentaries, he meets the demands both of racing sailors and of landlubbers alike, giving sailors an insightful (and often controversial) view of what is happening on the race course while at the same time conveying the excitement and romance of the sport.

Gary caught the America's Cup bug as a boy when he became mesmerized by two photographs of J Class Cup boats that were on display at his yacht club in Beachwood New Jersey. After college (where he was twice named College Sailor of the Year), he coached sailing at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and U.S. Naval Academy. He was tactician for Ted Turner on Courageous during the team's successful defense of the Cup in 1977 and also during the 1980 defender trials. In 1983, he was founder and tactician of the Courageous/Defender syndicate.

Gary became ESPN's sailing commentator in 1985. While covering the Cup and producing as many as 30 shows a year, he also has covered Olympic sailing for NBC, winning an Emmy Award for his work in Korea in 1988. He will again be covering sailing at the Athens Games in 2004. Author of 13 books on sailing, Gary is Editor-at-Large of Sailing World and Cruising World magazines. Over the past 25 years Jobson has delivered over 1,900 lectures around the world.

In 1999 the United States Sailing Association awarded Gary its most prestigious award, the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, for his contributions to the sport of sailing. Here, we can give him our most prestigious award for his invaluable contribution to the America's Cup.