Ted Turner aboard the Courageous after winning the Americas Cup in Newport, Rhode Island in 1977

Bettmann Archive

I could say that the modern America’s Cup really began with the late Ted Turner who died today. But the truth is…I wasn’t there when Turner was stamping his mark on global sailing. However, America’s Cup legend and Sailing Museum & National Sailing Hall of Fame co-president Gary Jobson was. And he’s been kind enough to share some of his memories with me here.

“Ted Turner was one of the most consequential and transformative figures in the history of modern sailing and global media,” he writes with fellow Sailing Museum and National Sailing Hall of Fame co-president Tom Stark. “As the founder of CNN, the world’s first 24-hour news network, he fundamentally changed how people access information and permanently reshaped the global media landscape. Yet long before he revolutionized television, he had already established himself as a fierce competitor, visionary leader and unforgettable presence on and off the water.

“Turner started out sailing at the age of eight in Savannah, Georgia,” Jobson continues. “He would tell you his early days didn’t produce good results. ‘I wasn’t losing, I was just learning how to win,’ he’d say.

“Turner’s virtues were grounded in hard work, loyalty, and kindness. Anyone who has ever met Ted will always say nice things about him. He was down to earth and cared about making the world a better place. Turner had a bumper sticker on all his vehicles that states, ‘Save Everything.’

“For the sailors who’ve raced with Turner, the friendship extended a lifetime. He was colorful and always drew a crowd. As an example of how Turner demonstrated leadership and earned loyalty, I recall a race on Courageous that had gone very well. After the race Turner invited his tactician and mainsail trimmer — me and Robbie Doyle — to the post-race press conference.

“John Ahern, a 58-year-old writer from The Boston Globe, asked ‘What was the key to your victory?’ Without missing a beat, Turner answered, ‘With a tactician like Gary calling the wind shifts and a trimmer like Robbie making us go fast it was easy. I steered, but these guys and the rest of the crew are the reason we won.’ The very next day we had a terrible race. I missed a wind shift, and Robbie had the wrong jib up. Ted invited us to the post-race press briefing again. I was not looking forward to it.

“Once again John Ahern asked, ‘After yesterday’s great race, what happened today, Ted?’ Turner looked straight at Ahern and said, ‘I had a bad race today, it was on me, we will try to do better in the next race.’ I stood there listening and realized what Ted was all about: When we won, he spread the credit around. But when we lost, he took the blame. That lesson has resonated with me throughout my life.

“Turner was colorful. Immediately after winning the fourth race of the 1977 America’s Cup, he was obligated to attend the post-race press conference, but he got sidetracked on his way down Thames Street in Newport to the cavernous Armory building that was bulging with the assembled press corps. We all knew Ted had a low tolerance for alcohol. Someone handed him a bottle of the Swedish liquor Aquavit. He took several generous swigs and by the time he arrived at the Armory he was brash, colorful, and outrageous.

“The press loved the moment. Turner had been asked to behave all summer and now he could let loose — and he did.

Some 33 years later at a 12 Meter reunion in Newport, someone asked Turner about the infamous press conference. Ted put his head down, paused for a moment and with a half-smile said, “I would like to apologize, once again, for my behavior that afternoon.” His comment brought the house down.

“At the 30th reunion of the Courageous America’s Cup victory Turner recalled “The ’77 Cup race was a high point of our lives. It would be hard to beat. We all had such a great time together. We pulled together. We all knew if we were going to have any chance to win, we were going to have to all perform at an absolutely superlative level. It was a crew of 100% winners. There was not a loser in the bunch. Everyone rose to the occasion, otherwise we would not have won.”

“Over the years I have given nearly 3,000 lecture presentations. While the topics have varied, one subject is always included — The America’s Cup. And the most frequent question I am asked is ‘What is it like to sail with Ted Turner?’

“I always take my time when I answer. Ted was a gifted sailor, and he recruited top sailors. Ted always said he likes when decisions are made at the lowest level. He is quite methodical when working with a tactician and navigator. He asked probing questions that challenge you to think hard. He appreciated people who think through all the possible options available. He often surprised me with an alternative option that I might not have thought about. In sum, Ted did three things well on long distance races: He was a superb helmsman. He was very good at trimming spinnakers and will spend considerable time continuously adjusting the sail. He was at his best as a leader. When Ted makes a decision, the crew buys in and executes.

And when he was asked what the highlight of his remarkable career was, Ted Turner said, ‘Racing sailboats was the greatest time of my life.’”

Thank you Gary. And thank you Ted Turner.