Ted Hood

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Frederick Emmart Hood (born May 5, 1927 in Beverly , Massachusetts , † June 28, 2013 in Middleton , Rhode Island ) was an American sailmaker , yacht designer and sailor . Hood grew up in Marblehead , Massachusetts, on the American east coast, learned to sail as a child and founded his company Hood-Sailmakers in 1952.

Sailing successes

Ted Hood first appeared on the America's Cup scene in 1962 with his yacht Nefertiti . He could not prevail despite good success against the future US defending champion Weatherly . In 1968 Hood won his first regatta , the Newport Bermuda Race . In 1971 he won the Marblehead-Halifax Race and took part in 1974 with his yacht Robin at the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit (SORC).

He recorded his biggest success on sailing in 1974 as skipper of the yacht defender (defender) Courageous in the 22nd America's Cup (designed by Sparkman & Stephens ) against the Australian yacht Southern Cross by Alan Bond . The Southern Cross was a very fast boat that the France by Baron Marcel Bich had clearly beaten (France) in the challenge round. Ted Hood won four races impressively against the Australian yacht, the last with a lead of 7 minutes and 19 seconds. As an America's Cup skipper, he was said to have a special talent for the selection and management of crew members, which favored the flawless series against Southern Cross .

In 1976, Ted Hood designed and built the 12-meter yacht Independence from aluminum and ultimately lost the defender elimination regattas against Ted Turner with courageous .

For his services to the America's Cup, he was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1993 as an Inductee (member) .

Entrepreneur

The sailing successes also established Hood's entrepreneurial success as a sailmaker and yacht designer. So over 1,600 yacht designs were created from his drawing board . His most famous crack was the 60- foot yacht American Promise , with which the American Dodge Morgan set a circumnavigation record of 150 days in 1985-86.

Ted Hood achieved fame and economic breakthrough with the development of the successful parallel lane spinnaker for the 12-meter yachts of the America's Cup. After that, the mainsails and jibs he cut became standard. His company was the first sailmaker to weave the processed sailcloth from Dacron itself. Hood also further developed the furling systems , in which the sails can be pulled into the boom or mast .

In 1987 Hood relocated his company to Portsmouth, Rhode Island (USA). In 1999 he sold his company to Hinckley Yachts . Ted Hood then headed his own independent yacht design office, Ted Hood Yachts, LLC, which was based in the Hinkley Yachts complex within Melville Marina in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Ted Hood Yachts sold eight standard designs for motor yachts, consisting of two Coastal Explorer types and six yachts from the Expedition series. He also had two ocean-going motor glider designs in his program. All yachts were made in Xiamen (China).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ America's Cup Hall of Fame: Ted Hood Retrieved July 21, 2009

literature

  • Hood, Ted, and Michael Levitt: Ted Hood; Through hand and eye. Portland (Book News Inc.) 2006; ISBN 0-939511-14-2 (engl.)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hood, Ted
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hood, Frederick Emmart
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sailmaker and yacht designer
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Beverly , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH June 28, 2013
Place of death Middleton , Rhode Island