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Manfred Curry

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Manfred Curry (11 December 1899 – 13 February 1953) was a physician, inventor, sailor and author of American citizenship. He was born in Munich, Germany; his father (Charles) was American and his mother (Adele) Russian.[1]

Career

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An accomplished athlete and yachtsman who represented the US at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games,[2] he sailed more than 1400 regattas[3][4] many of which he won.[5] In later life he worked as a doctor specialising in bioclimatics[6] and became the self-proclaimed discoverer of the pseudoscientific phenomenon of "geomagnetic lines" or "Earth radiation" (ger. Erdstrahlen) called the Curry Grid.

In 1925, Curry wrote a pioneering[7] book on yacht aerodynamics and racing tactics, published through to the present day and widely translated,[8] describing how he undertook a scientific study on sailboat design, testing various rig configurations in a wind-tunnel at Göttingen.[9][10] The significance of his book within yachting has been described by stating that he was the first to bring engineering analysis of the design of sailboats to the public eye.[11] In the book, he describes several of his inventions or developments that are in widespread use today, including the fully battened mainsail, developments to Genoa jibsails and spinnakers, the 'Park Avenue' boom and the cam cleat (Called the "Curryklemme" in German).[12][circular reference] He described two successful racing dinghies as well as innovations used on an America's Cup yacht.

His iconic racing dinghy, Aero which examplars many of his technical innovations has been restored.[13] [14]

In his home town of Riederau on the Ammersee lake, Curry set up the American Bioclimatics Research Institute. After his early death at the age of 53, his widow Maude Hester-Curry dedicated the new name of Manfred Curry Clinic[15][16] (which is no longer in existence). Curry also investigated the supposed pathogenic properties of "earth radiation",[17] a concept promoted in conjunction with a fellow medical doctor Ernst Hartmann and engineer Siegfried Wittmann.[18] Earth radiation (E-rays) ger. Erdstrahlen, which can only be measured by the subjective technique of dowsing, are not a scientific field of study and are considered to be pseudoscience.

As a youth, together with his father Charles Curry, he was friends with the Irish republican activist Roger Casement during the latter's stay in Germany.[19]

The street Curry Park in his home town of Riederau is named after him.[20]

The magazine Sailing World inducted Manfred Curry posthumously to its Hall of Fame in 1993.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Obituary Der Spiegel https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-25656416.html
  2. ^ "Manfred Curry - Olympic Data Project". odp.mjchost.com.
  3. ^ Regatta-Segeln. Die Aerodynamik der Segel (5. Auflage); Zürich: Schweizer Druck- und Verlagshaus, 1949; S. 7.
  4. ^ "Manfred Curry Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". April 18, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  5. ^ Online article about Curry and his dinghy 'Aero' http://www.yacht.de/schenk/n000/boot04.html; accessed 2008-04-04
  6. ^ The Relationship of Weather Conditions, Facial Characteristics, and Crime, Manfred Curry, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1931-1951), Vol. 39, No. 2 (Jul. - Aug., 1948), pp. 253-261
  7. ^ Die Aerodynamik des Segelns und die Kunst des Regatta - Segelns, 1925 Huber
  8. ^ Yacht Racing The Aerodynamics of Sails and Racing Tactics. Curry, M. First published in English 1928, Fifth edition 1948.
  9. ^ Calahan, H. A. (1999-05-25). Learning to Sail. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486407289.
  10. ^ Racing Dinghy Maintenance, Ian Proctor READ BOOKS, 2008ISBN 1443735612 page 88
  11. ^ "Duckworks - Manfred Curry". www.duckworksmagazine.com.
  12. ^ de:Curryklemme
  13. ^ "Manfred Curry's Aero". forum.woodenboat.com. 25 November 2015.
  14. ^ cthom249, Author (December 8, 2016). "Pt 1.25 – The sailing scientists of the renjollen". {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Der Spiegel vom 20. Mai 1953: „Krankheit aus der Luft“ (Nachruf und Biographie); accessed 2008-10-01
  16. ^ Die Zeit vom 04. August 1955: „Erholung im Ozon-Zimmer“; accessed 2008-04-04
  17. ^ *Manfred Curry, 1952, Das Reaktionsliniensystem als krankheitsauslösender Faktor, Hippokrates, Heft 19.
  18. ^ Stark, Roswitha (16 July 2015). Medicina Con Simbolos. ISBN 9788441435834.
  19. ^ Dr Charles E Curry Irishbrigade.eu http://www.irishbrigade.eu/other-men/curry/charles-curry.html
  20. ^ (ger) (2012-07-09). "Die "Schallerin" war keine Frau. Riederauer Straßenschilder bekommen Zusätze". Augsburger Allgemeine.
  21. ^ "Members of Sailboat Racing's Hall of Fame". Sailing World. May 2002.
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