Melvin, Findlay and Burnham head the National Sailing Hall of Fame's Class of 2024

NEWPORT, Rhode Island — Pete Melvin, who helped design breakthrough boats for the America's Cup as well as the Nacra 17 used in the Olympics, and Conn Findlay, who won Olympic medals in sailing and rowing, head the list of 12 inductees in the National Sailing Hall of Fame's Class of 2024.

As part of the firm M&M, Melvin helped design the giant trimaran that tech tycoon Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle Racing used to win the 2010 America's Cup in a one-off regatta against Alinghi of Switzerland's giant catamaran. M&M also drafted the design rules for the 72-foot catamarans used in the 2013 America's Cup, which ushered in foiling in sailing's marquee regatta.

M&M designed the Nacra 17 catamaran that debuted in the 2016 Olympics. For the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, the Nacra 17 added foils. Melvin sailed in the 1988 Olympics and has won numerous national and world titles.

Findlay won a total of four Olympic medals, including a bronze medal with Dennis Conner in the Tempest class in 1976. In rowing, he won two golds and one bronze in coxed pairs. He sailed in the America’s Cup three times, including with winning skipper Ted Turner aboard Courageous in 1977.

Also entering the hall is Kevin Burnham, who won a silver medal in the 470 class in the 1992 Olympics with Morgan Reeser and then won gold with Paul Foerster in 2004.

In one of the most memorable races in Olympic history, Foerster and Burnham aggressively match-raced the British boat to the back of the fleet and stayed ahead the entire race to win the gold medal. At the finish line, Burnham, then 47, waved to race officials, let out a whoop and then did a backflip into the Saronic Gulf off Athens, barefoot and still wearing his sunglasses. Burnham died in 2020.

The induction will be Oct. 4-5 at the Chicago Yacht Club.

Among the other inductees are Jan C. O’Malley, a three-time US Sailing Yachtswoman of the Year and the first winner of the IYRU Women’s World Sailing Championship; Charles Ulmer, a national champion and race winner throughout the 1970s and 80s; and Richard Tillman, the 1965 Sailor of the Year who held national, North American and world titles in the Snipe, Finn, Laser, Sunfish and Windsurfing classes.

Also going into the hall are Franklin Wood; Allegra Mertz; brothers Eric Hall and Ben Hall; Gary Mull; and Carl Alberg.