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Stuart H. Walker

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American sailor

Stuart Hodge Walker
Walker in 2012
Born(1923-04-19)April 19, 1923
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 12, 2018(2018-11-12) (aged 95)
Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
EducationMiddlebury College
Alma materNew York University
Occupation(s)Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatrics
Years activeRetirement Profession 1984, International Sailing 2016
EmployerMercy Medical Center (Baltimore, Maryland)
Known forOlympic yachtsman, writer and a professor of pediatrics from the United States. He has competed as a sailor at the Olympic Games; won many national and international championships in different classes.
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
TitlePresident International Soling Association
Term1991 - 1994
PredecessorSam Merrick
SuccessorGeorge Wossala
SpouseFrances Taylor (1944 - 2012)
Patricia Empey (2013 until his death)
ChildrenSusan (1946) and Lee (1950)
AwardsSailing World Hall of Fame Class of 1982
United States National Sailing Hall of Fame in Class of 2013

Stuart Hodge Walker (April 19, 1923 – November 12, 2018) was an American Olympic yachtsman, writer, and a professor of pediatrics. He competed as a sailor at the Olympic Games; won many national and international championships in different classes and wrote over ten books.

Biography

Born in 1923 in Brooklyn, New York, Walker attended school in suburban Hartsdale and Bronxville, college at Middlebury College, and medical school at New York University. He was married to Frances (née Taylor) from 1944 until her death on September 30, 2012. They have two daughters Susan (1946) and Lee (1950). Walker was assigned in 1946 as a medical officer to the Army of Occupation of Japan ( United States Army 11th Airborne Division (Paratroops)). After reassignment from the army, he started a pediatric practice in Annapolis in 1953. Stuart became a full-time Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1961 and was Chief of Pediatrics at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore until his retirement in 1984. After Frances' death, Stuart married Patricia (née Empey) in 2013.

Sailing in the International 14 class, Walker was a member of every American team in international matches between 1961 and 1971 and was, in 1963, the first American to win Bermuda's Princess Elizabeth Trophy and, in 1964, England's Prince of Wales Cup. He was a member of the American Olympic Team, sailing a 5.5 Meter at the 1968 Games and the Pan-American Games, and a Soling in the 1979 Pan-American Games and the 2012 Vintage Yachting Games.

Walker authored ten books on sailboat racing, sail trim, competitive behavior, and low level wind flow, and was a lecturer and contributor to sailing magazines. He helped found the Severn Sailing Association. He published his 11th book, "Travels with Thermopylae", in 2015, which describes a year of sailing and discovery in central Europe.

Walker was President of the International Soling Class from 1991 through 1994 . In this role he successfully campaigned to keep the Soling in the 1996 Olympics and to continue the fleet/match format. He also established a Technical Committee that included the major builders and which has been successful in openly recognizing and solving problems before they become significant. He travelled on a yearly basis to Europe to compete in Soling regattas.

Retirement

Stuart at the 2012 Vintage Yachting Games

After finishing fifth at the eighth race of the 2016 European Championship Soling at Traunsee, Austria and leading the fleet to the weather mark in the ninth and last race, Walker announced his retirement from sailing on May 23, 2016, due to macular degeneration. With his retirement, he completed a period of 47 years of Soling sailing. After his retirement, Stuart continued sailing local races at the Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis. He died on November 12, 2018, in Annapolis from stomach cancer at the age of 95.

Palmarès

Honours
Sailing World Hall of Fame:Member 1982 – selected as one of the world’s twenty outstanding yachtsmen.
Stuart was inducted into the United States National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2013.
1968 Olympics
8th U.S. Olympic Team – 5.5 Meter.
Team Meteorologist
Vintage Yachting Games
5th 2012  Italy – Soling.
1979 Pan American Games
Gold 1979 U.S. Pan-American Team – Soling.
European Championship Soling
2nd 2011  Austria.
National Championships in Soling
Winner 1973  Switzerland
Winner 1983  Switzerland
Winner 1987  Switzerland
Winner 1988  Austria
Winner 1988  Hungary
Winner 2003  United States
Winner 2003  Netherlands
Winner 2007  Scotland
International 14
Member U.S. International Teams 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969 and 1971
Winner 1961 Princess Elizabeth Trophy (1st American ever) –  Bermuda
Winner 1962 Buzzard's Bay Bowl
Winner 1964 Prince of Wales Cup (1st American ever) – Lowestoft,  United Kingdom
Winner 1966 Yachting Magazine's One-of-a-Kind Regatta
Soling
Winner 1973 Great Lakes Championship
Winner 1973 Maritime Provinces Championship
Winner 1974 Atlantic Coast Championship
Winner 1982 Australian Gold Cup  Australia
Winner 1984 Erich Hirt Trophy  Germany
Winner 1984 Jungfrau Trophy  Switzerland
Winner 1985 Jungfrau Trophy  Switzerland
Winner 1988 European Lakes Cup
Winner 1992 Erich Hirt Trophy  Germany
Ice Bowl (Annapolis)
Winner 1955–2011 – (32 times out of 58)

Bibliography

Walker contributed to the sailing world by writing over ten books on sports in general and on sailing specifically:

References

  1. Stuart Walker on YouTube.
  2. "Results Soling Europeans 2016". www.soling.com. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  3. "47 years sailing the Soling and a last good race". www.soling.com. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  4. "The living legend now sails perfect winds and waters. Stuart Walker 1923-2018". International Soling Association. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  5. "Members of the Sailing Hall of Fame". Sailing World. www.sailingworld.com. May 2002. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  6. "National Sailing Hall of Fame: Class of 2013". US National Sailing Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  7. "European Championship / SCK, Attersee 27/08/2011 To 04/09/2011. / Rk=1.5". International Soling Association. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
Sporting positions
Preceded byUnited States Sam Merrick President International Soling Association
1991 - 1994 		Succeeded byHungary György Wossala
Soling Dutch Championship Winners
Fleet racing
Soling Austrian Championship Winners
Fleet racing
Soling Scottish Championship Winners
Fleet racing
Soling Swiss Championship Winners
Fleet racing
Soling American Championship Winners
Fleet racing
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