Posted by California sailing legend Paul Cayard, Australian-born racer Jimmy Spithill, and Susan Henn, the first known woman to compete in the America’s Cup, have been announced as the Herreshoff Marine Museum/America’s Cup Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Each sailor is recognized for their personal achievements and positive influence on the sport and in America’s Cup racing.
Paul Cayard has been in the sailing news for decades and has won seven world championships and the Whitbread Round the World Race, competed in seven America’s Cup campaigns, and is a two-time Olympian. He has also been highly active in official roles behind the sailing scene including board chair for the St. Francis Yacht Club, former executive director of US Olympic Sailing, and president of the International Star Class Association.
Cayard’s first America’s Cup campaign was as a sail trimmer aboard the 12 Meter Defender in 1983. He served as tactician in the 1987 America’s Cup in Fremantle, Australia. He went on to win multiple sailing events and championships including the International Star Class Worlds, the Maxi Yacht World Championship, and the 1997–98 Whitbread Round the World Race. In 2000 Cayard launched an America’s Cup campaign on behalf of his home club, the St. Francis Yacht Club, with his team AmericaOne. He is also an inductee of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Jimmy Spithill was just 4 years old when Australia II won the 1983 America’s Cup. His first boat was a race-ready dump-find, recovered from a dump and made ready for racing, and in 1989, together with his sister, he won the first race he ever entered. In 1997 he captained his crew to win the Australian High School Sailing Championship. That same year Spithill was named New South Wales Youth Yachtsman of the Year.
In 1998 Spithill was recruited to race the Rolex Sydney Hobart race aboard Ragamuffin, and in 2000 at age 20, he became skipper of Young Australia for the 2000 America’s Cup in San Diego — the Cup’s youngest-ever helmsman. Subsequent America’s Cup campaigns followed, including roles with the USA’s American OneWorld and ORACLE teams, and Italy’s Luna Rossa. In 2024, Spithill retired at the conclusion of the America’s Cup in Barcelona but not before having led numerous teams aboard foiling trimarans, the foiling wing sail AC72 and AC50 catamarans, foiling AC75 monohulls, and the foiling F50s as captain for the US SailGP Team.
Susan Matilda Cunninghame-Graham Henn (1853-1911) is celebrated as the first woman to compete, and ultimately command a yacht, in the America’s Cup. Henn sailed aboard the 102-ft steel cutter Galatea in the 1886 match against the Mayflower. Henn and her husband Lt. William Henn sailed across the Atlantic for the race against Mayflower, proving Henn’s disposition for a life at sea. When her husband became ill during a race, Henn took charge of their yacht, once more demonstrating her exceptional sailing skills.
The America’s Cup Hall of Fame has inducted over 100 individuals since its founding in 1992. Candidates eligible for consideration include sailing team members, designers, builders, syndicate leaders, supporters, chroniclers, and other individuals of merit. Each nominee is judged on the basis of outstanding ability, international recognition, character, performance, and contributions to the America’s Cup. The members of the Selection Committee are intimate with the history and traditions of the America’s Cup and are committed to maintaining the integrity of the Hall of Fame.
Cayard, Spithill, and Henn will be honored on October 16 at the America’s Cup Hall of Fame Induction at the New York Yacht Club.
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