Lowell North

Personal information
Full name	Lowell Orton North
Nickname	"The Pope"
Nationality	American
Born	(1929-12-02)December 2, 1929 Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Died	June 2, 2019(2019-06-02) (aged 89) San Diego, California, U.S.
Sailing career
Class(es)	Dragon, Star
Club	San Diego Yacht Club
College team	University of California, Berkeley
Medal record Men's sailing Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Star class 1964 Tokyo Dragon class World Championships 1945 Central Long Island Sound Star class 1957 Havana Star class 1959 Newport Harbor Star class 1960 Rio de Janeiro Star class 1973 San Diego Star class 1956 Naples Star class 1963 Chicago Star class 1966 Kiel Star class 1967 Copenhagen Star class 1971 Puget Sound Star class 1961 San Diego Star class 1969 San Diego Star class

Lowell Orton North (December 2, 1929 – June 2, 2019) was an American sailor and Olympic gold medalist.^[1] He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where he received a gold medal in the Star class with the boat North Star, together with Peter Barrett.^[2]

Biography

North was born in Springfield, Missouri on December 2, 1929. He was the son of Williard North, a geophysicist for oil companies, and Juanita Williams North, a homemaker. When Lowell was young the family moved to Southern California, where he learned to sail in Newport Beach and later in San Diego.^[3]

He got his start as a sailmaker at the age of 14, when he and his father raced Star class boats and regularly lost. He recut the sail and improved their record. In 1945, at age 15, he crewed for Malin Burnham in the Star World Championship, which they won. North later said, "It wasn’t me Malin wanted. It was my mainsail."^[4][5] During the next 30 years he won another four Star Worlds.

He studied at San Diego State College and earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.^[3] He worked as a structural engineer in the aerospace industry, but sail design remained his main passion. He opened his first sail making company in the late 1950s, where "his methodical and scientific approach to sailmaking changed the industry." He used computer modeling, new materials, and advanced manufacturing techniques.^[4] In 1957 he founded North Sails, a world-wide company producing sailing equipment, in San Diego.^[6]

He received a bronze medal in the Dragon class at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.^[7]

North participated in 1977 America's Cup defender series where he skippered the 12 metre yacht Enterprise.^[8]

North retired in 1984. In 2011, he was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame.^[9]

Personal life

In 1956 he married Kay Gillette North (March 9, 1933 – September 5, 2021). They had three children: Danny, Holly, and Julie.^[10] They later divorced. In 1994 he married Helen Beatrice Davidson, known as Bea, who survived him.^[3]