Standing on the shoulders of Inductees

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
My involvement on the Selection Committee for the US National Hall of Fame taught me that people get nominated and inducted based on familiarity, and recent achievement looks shinier than when considering the early years of the sport

I would champion, with futility, how induction should respect the timeline of the sport. When an inductee quotes, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants,” those giants better already be in the Hall. That tends not to be the case.

I also stubbornly contend how a Hall of Fame induction should reflect the body of a person’s work. That is easier in other sports, but when 48-year-old John Kostecki is inducted in 2012, and he wins the Star World Championship in 2024, I say he bumped one of the giants.

As the USA institution was launched only in 2011, it makes reaching back hard, but not as hard as the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame which was established in 2017.

Their 2024 inductees included 29-year-old Matt Wearn who won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 2020 and 2024 Games. Exciting yes, but whose shoulders had he stood on? Another inductee was Jimmy Spithill at 45 years, fresh off his eighth consecutive America’s Cup campaign.

No doubt, both men are worthy for the Hall, but not as worthy in 2024 as the two other inductees.

Jessica Crisp at 55 years, is many years removed from her windsurfing world titles and four Olympics (2000-2012). Equally worthy is Lindsay Cunningham, considered one of the greatest and most innovative multihull designers of all time.

There are now 29 inductees in the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame, and as future candidates come from public nomination, I suspect the timeline of the sport will get overlooked again.