San Diego Hall of Champions
Sailing has a special niche in San Diego’s sports history.
No local sport has produced more world champions than sailing. And San Diego has produced more world champions than any other region in the world. The list of sailing greats from San Diego reads like a Who’s Who in the sport – Lowell North, Dennis Conner, Gerry Driscoll, Mark Reynolds, Malin Burnham, J.J. Fetter, Earl Elms, Carl Eichenlaub, Robbie Haines, Rod Davis, Annie Nelson, Bill Hardesty and Vince Brun to mention a few.
San Diego’s history in sailing, particularly the America’s Cup, is being honored in a new display on the lower floor of the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. The $1 million Sailing Experience exhibit will be premiered at 6 p.m. Wednesday night and open to the public at 10 a.m. Thursday.
“We wanted to build an exhibit that honored the rich tradition of sailing in San Diego,” Burnham said recently. “It’s a living exhibit that will expand with time.
“San Diego’s role in the America’s Cup is well documented and one focus of the exhibit. But the story of sailing as a sport in San Diego begins late in the 19th century and includes an industry as well as a sport.”
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