The National Sailing Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2026, a group of six sailors whose careers span Olympic podiums, record-setting ocean passages and pioneering roles for women in the sport.
Induction festivities will take place over two days in Newport. A welcome cocktail party is set for the evening of Tuesday, October 6 at The Sailing Museum & National Sailing Hall of Fame, followed by the official Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Luncheon on Wednesday, October 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at New York Yacht Club Harbour Court.
“Great sailors leave more than wake behind them, they leave a legacy,” said Gary Jobson, co-president of The Sailing Museum & National Sailing Hall of Fame and himself a Hall of Fame inductee. “The Class of 2026 reminds us that sailing is more than a sport. It is a proving ground for courage, innovation and character. These inductees changed the game and expanded what was possible for everyone who followed.”
NSHOF Selection Committee Chair Spike Lobdell echoed that sentiment. “Every year, we’re struck by the quality of the nominees, and the Class of 2026 is no exception,” he said. “What stands out isn’t just what these six individuals have accomplished, but how they’ve gone about it. They reflect the best of our sport, bringing creativity, determination, and a lasting dedication to sailing that continues to inspire.”
The six inductees are:
Eleanor Prentiss Creesy (1814–1900) of Marblehead, Massachusetts, served as navigator aboard the clipper ship Flying Cloud, guiding the 235-foot, three-masted schooner from New York to San Francisco around Cape Horn in a record 89 days and 21 hours in 1851 — a record the ship broke again three years later. Self-taught in navigation through the writings of oceanographer Matthew F. Maury, Creesy was one of the rare women of her era to serve as an essential member of an ocean-going crew.
Lorna Whittelsey Hibberd (1912–2009) of the New York area began sailing at age six and won the prestigious Adams Trophy — the North American Women’s Championship — five times between 1927 and 1934, claiming her first title at just 15 years old. She remained active in the sport well into her later years, taking up windsurfing and racing Ideal 18s in her 70s and 80s.
Gino Joseph Morrelli (born 1957) of El Paso, Texas, is a self-taught naval architect who was part of Dennis Conner’s design team during the 1988 America’s Cup defense and later partnered with Pete Melvin to design some of the world’s fastest multihulls. Their firm, Morrelli and Melvin, has been involved in five America’s Cup campaigns, won 31 Boat of the Year Awards and designed the Nacra17 catamaran, an Olympic class since 2016. Among their records, the offshore multihull PlayStation crossed the Atlantic in 4 days, 17 hours and 28 minutes.
Mary Male Savage (1936–2022) of Larchmont, New York, came to sailing at 22 after a humbling first outing and became one of the sport’s most respected judges and administrators. She was among the first women to become a certified U.S. Sailing judge in 1979 and one of the first two women to become a certified U.S. Sailing umpire in 1990. She was awarded U.S. Sailing’s highest honor, the Nathanael Greene Herreshoff Trophy, in 2015.
Judson Andrew Smith (born 1957) of Marblehead, Massachusetts, is one of the most decorated one-design sailors of his generation. His victories include an Etchells World Championship, a J70 World Championship at age 61, six consecutive North American Etchells Championships and two Rolex Yachtsman of the Year honors. A longtime sailmaker with Doyle Sails, he also trimmed the mainsail aboard Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes during the 1995 America’s Cup campaign.
Herman Frasch Whiton (1904–1967) of Cleveland, Ohio, is the only two-time Olympic gold medalist in the Class of 2026, winning the 6 Meter class at the 1948 Games in Torbay, England and again at the 1952 Games in Helsinki with an entirely different crew. He also won the 6 Meter World Championship in 1924 at age 22. Later in life, Whiton created an international sailing exchange program and was a generous donor to the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team through his Whiton Foundation.
More information about the inductees and the ceremony is available at the National Sailing Hall of Fame’s website.
