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Olin James Stephens II (April 13, 1908 – September 13, 2008) has been described as the best-known and most successful yacht designer of the 20th century. Stephens was born in New York, but spent his summers with his brother Rod(erick) learning to sail on the New England coast. He also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a term.

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 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 set up an office next door to Nevins in 1929.^[1] Since retiring from the company he lived in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he spent his final years writing computer programs for designing yachts. He was awarded the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Award by the North American Yacht Racing Union in 1965 for his contributions to sailing.

Later years

In 1993, Stephens was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. Several years later, in 2000, he wrote the autobiography All This and Sailing Too.

In 2007, Stephens was named as one of six inductees to the inaugural ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame. He is currently ranked member number 1 on the New York Yacht Club Member Seniority List. Their tribute and profile can be found here: http://nyyc.org/home/article_193.

In 2008, he celebrated his 100th birthday.

References

^ Jones, Gregory O. The American Sailboat. October 1, 2001. MBI Publishing Company, p. 16. ISBN 0-7603-1002-5.

External links

http://sailing.org/halloffame/21220.php (article mentioning his early years and education)
Dorade: photos
Stormy Weather: photos
Website: Sparkman & Stephens Inc. (S&S)
http://www.sailing.org/22732.php (article highlighting his 100th birthday, with a picture)
Olin Stephens' obituary

[1] Jones, Gregory O. The American Sailboat. October 1, 2001. MBI Publishing Company, p. 16. ISBN 0-7603-1002-5.

[1]

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 ==Later years==
-In [[1993]], Stephens was inducted into the [[America's Cup Hall of Fame]]. Several years later, in [[2000]], Olin wrote the autobiography ''All This and Sailing Too''.<ref>''The Dictionary of Nautical Literacy''. McGraw-Hill Professional, p. 356. ISBN 0-07-141950-0.</ref><ref>Rousmanière, John. ''Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of the Offshore Sailing Yacht''. [[May 1]], [[1987]]. W. W. Norton & Company, p. 18. ISBN 0-393-03311-2.</ref>
+In [[1993]], Stephens was inducted into the [[America's Cup Hall of Fame]]. Several years later, in [[2000]], he wrote the autobiography ''All This and Sailing Too''.
  In [[2007]], Stephens was named as one of six inductees to the inaugural ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame. He is currently ranked member number 1 on the [[New York Yacht Club]] Member Seniority List. Their tribute and profile can be found here: http://nyyc.org/home/article_193.
 In [[2008]], he celebrated [[centenarian|his 100th birthday]].