Lowell North

Lowell Orton North (December 2, 1929 – June 2, 2019) was an American sailor and Olympic gold medalist.

North was born in Springfield, Missouri on December 2, 1929.

He was the son of Williard North, a geophysicist for oil companies, and Juanita Williams North, a homemaker.

When Lowell was young the family moved to Southern California, where he learned to sail in Newport Beach and later in San Diego.

He got his start as a sailmaker at the age of 14, when he and his father raced Star class boats and regularly lost.

He recut the sail and improved their record.

In 1956 he married Kay Gillette North (March 9, 1933 – September 5, 2021).

They had three children: Danny, Holly, and Julie.

They later divorced.

In 1945, at age 15, he crewed for Malin Burnham in the Star World Championship, which they won.

North later said, "It wasn’t me Malin wanted. It was my mainsail."

During the next 30 years he won another four Star Worlds.

He studied at San Diego State College and earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

He worked as a structural engineer in the aerospace industry, but sail design remained his main passion.

He opened his first sail making company in the late 1950s, where "his methodical and scientific approach to sailmaking changed the industry."

He used computer modeling, new materials, and advanced manufacturing techniques.

In 1957 he founded North Sails, a world-wide company producing sailing equipment, in San Diego.

He received a bronze medal in the Dragon class at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where he received a gold medal in the Star class with the boat North Star, together with Peter Barrett.

North participated in 1977 America's Cup defender series where he skippered the 12 metre yacht Enterprise.

North retired in 1984.

In 1994 he married Helen Beatrice Davidson, known as Bea, who survived him.

In 2011, he was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame.