The America's Cup Hall of Fame to induct Glenn Ashby, the Bekens, Peter Isler, & Lowell North

by Herreshoff Marine Museum 26 Mar 09:59 PDT

America's Cup Hall of Fame celebrates the Class of 2025 inductees © Hechler Photographers

The Herreshoff Marine Museum/America's Cup Hall of Fame welcomes Glenn Ashby, the three generations of the Beken family contributing to a photographic collection covering 150yrs of the America's Cup, Peter Isler, and Lowell North as Class of 2026 inductees of the America's Cup Hall of Fame. They will be honored on October 16th, 2026 at the America's Cup Hall of Fame Induction gala in the Model Room of the New York Yacht Club.

"This year's Class is a quintessential group of America's Cup participants. It features a superb skipper with a deep understanding of the sport's technical side; a talented family of photographers whose work has documented over a hundred years of the Cup; an expert navigator who's also great at sharing his knowledge; and a sailmaking genius and mentor to many. Together, they embody what makes the America's Cup an endlessly fascinating pursuit," said America's Cup Hall of Fame Selection Committee Chair Steven Tsuchiya. "We look forward to celebrating their accomplishments in October!"

The America's Cup Hall of Fame has inducted over one hundred individuals since its founding in 1992. Candidates eligible for consideration include sailing team members, designers, builders, syndicate leaders, supporters, chroniclers, and other individuals of merit. Each nominee is judged on the basis of outstanding ability, international recognition, character, performance, and contributions to the America's Cup. The members of the Selection Committee are intimate with the history and traditions of America's Cup and are committed to maintaining the integrity of the Hall of Fame.

"This is an incredibly diverse group of inductees, and it highlights the ultimate combination of technology, skill, and beauty that make up the America's Cup," said America's Cup Hall of Fame President & Executive Director Bill Lynn. "Thanks to Glenn Ashby for teaching everyone how to sail multihulls, to Peter Isler for teaching us all what a stadimeter is, to Lowell North for countless innovations to the "aero packages", and to the Beken family for recording it with an amazing eye for detail and timing!"

America's Cup Hall of Fame Inductees, Class of 2026

Glenn Ashby - photo © Glenn Ashby

Glenn Ashby (AUS) (b.1977)

Glenn Ashby played a key technical role and afterguard member in five America's Cup campaigns across three teams, securing three victories.

A sailmaker by trade and ten-time world A-class catamaran champion, Ashby's career spanned the most technologically diverse period of the America's Cup, during which four different classes or types were used in five consecutive Cups. This era included the 120ft wing-sailed open-class trimaran that sailed in the 2010 "Deed of Gift" match in Valencia, the 50ft wing-sailed near-one-design foiling catamaran in the 2017 series, and then the AC75 foiling monohull, which features a soft double-skinned mainsail used in the 2021 and 2024 cycles. In these campaigns, Ashby's role as sailor, sail designer, and coach was to act as the interface between the sailing team and the design teams for the USA, New Zealand, and French America's Cup teams.

Ashby grew up in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, sailing dinghies and small catamarans on local lakes. As a teenager, he demonstrated a prodigious talent for multihulls and left traditional school at age 16 to pursue an apprenticeship as a sailmaker. This intensive, hands-on self-education in sail design and aerodynamics proved valuable in his later roles, helping him develop sophisticated rigid-wing sails and twin-skin mainsails for Emirates Team New Zealand's America's Cup programs.

He served as a multihull coach during the successful BMW Oracle Racing campaign in the 2010 America's Cup in Valencia, Spain, earning his first America's Cup victory. For the next Cup, he joined Emirates Team New Zealand as the team's core multihull expert as it transitioned from monohulls to foiling catamarans. He was the wing trimmer aboard the team's 72-foot catamaran AOTEAROA, which came very close to winning the 2013 match. After the Kiwis' bitter disappointment in San Francisco, Ashby was skipper and wing trimmer aboard the team's 50-foot catamaran, winning the Cup, in Bermuda in 2017. He achieved his third Cup victory as mainsail trimmer aboard the AC75 TE REHUTAI for New Zealand's successful defense in Auckland in 2021. In the 2024 America's Cup, he was a coach/consultant to the new French America's Cup team before moving across to the host-broadcast commentary team role for that event.

"We have been the 'Lone Wolf' from day one," Ashby said, reflecting on the embattled 2017 America's Cup campaign. "We have had to adopt that as our stance, as we were away from everyone. But we also had to be the Lone Wolf in our design philosophy and our projection and anticipation of where the bar would ultimately be, in this cycle."

"We have definitely run our own course, and it has proven to be the correct one. Ultimately, we knew we were racing ourselves. We knew where the level was going to get to - and if we didn't reach that level, we wouldn't be competitive," he added.

During the intense 2017 Challenger Series and Cup match, Ashby became globally recognized as the quiet, steady leader of Emirates Team New Zealand's "Lone Wolf" campaign.

Operating in isolation in Auckland before arriving in Bermuda, Ashby skippered a revolutionary cyclor-powered catamaran. A key element in that campaign was the development of the New Zealand test boat, which, with an extended rudder gantry, took the permitted 45-footer and gave it similar foiling geometry to the AC50 - enabling Emirates Team NZ to test and develop in full size for months longer than their competitors. Ashby joins the ranks of the Cup's most distinguished innovators.

Before his integration into the America's Cup, Ashby spent his early career establishing himself as one of the greatest multihull sailors in history. He has won a staggering 17 World Championships across three highly competitive classes: the A-Class Catamaran, the Tornado, and the Formula 18. In 2008, Ashby partnered with Darren Bundock to win a silver medal for Australia in the Tornado class at the Beijing Olympic Games.

An avid motorcyclist, Ashby broadened his pursuit of speed to land yachting. He led and piloted Emirates Team New Zealand's land-speed project, and in 2022, he broke a new wind-powered land-speed world record, piloting the craft HORONUKU to 222.4 km/h across Lake Gairdner in South Australia.

After his 2024 stint with the French Orient Express Racing team, which built an AC75 based on Emirates Team New Zealand's design, Ashby moved into a role as a technical commentator for the host broadcast of the 2024 America's Cup in Barcelona. There, he used his keen eye for technical and sailing nuances, combined with the relaxed commentary of a top coach, to educate an audience of millions.

Glenn Ashby's influence goes beyond his time on the water; he played a key role in shaping Emirates Team New Zealand's open, innovative culture. This transparent and forward-thinking approach to development is clear in the team's current operations. Ashby's legacy of bridging cutting-edge technical design with practical sailing is embedded in the Kiwi team's practices today.

Beken Dynasty - photo © Beken of Cowes

The Beken Dynasty (ENG)
Frank Beken (1880-1970), Keith Beken (1914-2007), Kenneth Beken (b. 1951)

Synonymous with English yachting for 150 years, three generations of the Beken family have documented the America's Cup like no others. They began well before the Rosenfelds and continued long after them. As technical pioneers, they captured images that have appeared in reportage and every book on the history of the America's Cup.

Frank Beken (1880-1970): Frank arrived at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1888 when his father Alfred established a pharmacy and photography business there. He was fascinated by the yachts, ships, and steam yachts passing through the Solent and decided to capture them using an old-fashioned canvas bellows camera. He quickly realized the impracticality of such cameras on the water and began designing a new type of camera. This was made of wood, held in both hands, with the subject viewed through a separate lens. The shutter was activated by biting a rubber ball held between his teeth, and by using his body as a gimbal, he succeeded in absorbing his own movements and those of his subject, keeping everything in focus with level horizons.

Frank's first Cup-related shot, taken in 1887, is a remarkable and unique onboard image of the second challenger, LIVONIA. From then on, he captured stunning photos of the challengers GENESTA, GALATEA, THISTLE, VALKYRIE II & III, all five of SHAMROCKs, and both ENDEAVOURs. U.S. defenders and trial horses, VIGILANT and YANKEE, were also photographed.

Frank's images were not only incredible portraits but also invaluable tools for racing yacht owners who wanted to study the set of their sails. Owners and skippers would gather at the Beken shop to see the day's photographs, which were so excellent that they could scrutinize the rigging and sails for improvements the next day. One regular visitor was King George V, who would insist on seeing the latest photos of BRITANNIA.

Keith Beken (1914-2007): Keith joined his father in the 1930s, photographing both ENDEAVOURs and the 12 Metres that would go on to race for the America's Cup. When the Cup was revived after World War II, Keith was appointed Official Photographer for the British Challenge. Keith not only photographed the British challenger but also filmed them during training, famously slowing down the film to show the crew grinding until they all agreed they could be faster! Keith worked with the Red Duster syndicate, documenting trail races and rigs, and continued his involvement with the Cup through the SOVEREIGN challenge of 1964. Keith remained active in maritime photography until he retired at age 82 after capturing his famous shot of SILK nosediving in the Solent in 1996.

Kenneth Beken (b. 1951) started working at Beken of Cowes as the third-generation photographer in 1969. His first photos of America's Cup yachts were taken in 1979 in Brighton, UK, during the inaugural 12 Metre World Cup, where LIONHEART showcased her innovative bendy mast. Between 1980 and 1983, Ken photographed for Peter de Savary's VICTORY team. He also covered the 1987 America's Cup cycle in Fremantle, Australia. His next Cup shoot was in San Diego in 1992, when IL MORO DI VENEZIA challenged AMERICA3.

Beken of Cowes, Birmingham Road, Cowes - photo © Richard Gladwell - Sail-World.com/nz

Beken of Cowes, Birmingham Road, Cowes - July 2025 - photo © Richard Gladwell - Sail-World.com/nz

In 2013, during a catamaran race between AOTEAROA and USA 17, Ken captured a striking photo of the two boats crossing as the New Zealanders nearly capsized. Recognizing its potential as a front cover, he offered it to a prominent British yachting magazine; however, the editor politely explained that magazines now received so much free material they no longer needed to pay for images. With big-budget sponsors, the role of independent photographers was shrinking. Ken's son Jason (b. 1988) considered becoming the fourth generation of marine photographers but instead chose to work on classic yachts and is currently the captain of the J-Class yacht SHAMROCK V.

Always aware that he was born 100 years after the famous Royal Yacht Squadron £100 Cup (now known as the America's Cup) race around the Isle of Wight, Ken realized that in 2001 it would be the Cup's 150th anniversary. So, in 1991, he wrote to the Royal Yacht Squadron suggesting a race to mark the milestone. He proposed a rerun set on the original course, including any existing America's Cup yachts—those that could have participated in the past—and with nine years' notice, any qualifying yacht yet to be built. The Squadron embraced the idea and created what many now consider the greatest yachting event ever. While photographing the race, Kenneth noticed he was the only private launch among the racing vessels. When he mentioned this to the RYS later, they commented, "Yes, we saw you out there but thought that, as you'd suggested the event, we'd let you stay,"

Over three generations, the Bekens have photographed participants in at least 19 America's Cup Challenges, covering nearly 150 years of the Cup's history.

Peter Isler - photo © Cory Silken

Peter Farnham Isler (USA) (b.1955)

Peter Isler served as navigator for two winning America's Cup campaigns aboard the 12-Metre STARS & STRIPES in 1987 as a challenger in Fremantle, Australia, and aboard the 60-foot catamaran STARS & STRIPES as a defender in 1988. Isler also participated in three additional America's Cup campaigns, always in the afterguard: 2000 Team Dennis Conner, 2003 Team Dennis Conner, and 2007 BMW Oracle Racing."

Isler grew up in Noroton, Connecticut, sailing dinghies out of the Norwalk Yacht Club and Noroton Yacht Club. As a teenager, he started racing offshore yachts and was given the nickname, "Pedro," by an older sailor, Whit Batchelor. He was accepted to Yale University and was an active member of Yale's renowned sailing team. Among his teammates were sailing legends Steve Benjamin, Dave Perry, and Stan Honey. In 1976, Isler was named Intercollegiate Sailor of the Year. His major at Yale was meteorology, which proved valuable in his role as navigator for Dennis Conner's effort to reclaim the America's Cup from the Royal Perth Yacht Club in 1987.

During the lengthy challenger trials for the Louis Vuitton Cup in 1986 and 1987, Isler became a well-known sailor at a time when mainstream media followed the personalities and every race of the America's Cup. For the 1987 match, Cup contenders sailed for the first time with onboard video-cameras and microphones for live broadcast; you could hear Isler's steady voice aboard STARS & STRIPES during the races on the big waves off Fremantle. During that campaign, he raced alongside future America's Cup Hall of Fame inductees Dennis Conner, Tom Whidden, Bill Trenkle, Jonathan Wright, and John Barnitt. The team's chair, Malin Burnham, and design coordinator, John Marshall, have also been inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. Isler now joins his teammates in the Hall of Fame.

After graduating from Yale, Isler spent time racing a variety of one-designs and offshore yachts and as a sailing coach. Notably, he worked closely as a coach for the International 470 Class leading up to the 1984 Olympic Games. That year, fellow Yale sailor Steve Benjamin and his crew, Hans Christopher Steinfeld, won a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Peter Isler has used his experience and expertise in sailing as an author, television commentator, and a highly sought-after speaker. He has written four books on sailing, including a beginner's volume of the popular "For Dummies" series by Wiley publishers, Sailing for Dummies, co-authored with Olympic medalist in the women's 470 Class, J.J. Fetter. Combining lessons from sailing with business, Isler co-authored At the Helm - Business Lessons for Navigating Rough Waters with business writer Peter Economy (the foreword was written by Phil Knight, Chairman and CEO of Nike, Inc.). The sailing and business analogies in the 215-page book are familiar to veteran sailors, with chapter titles including: "Build True Team Effort," "Be Prepared to Change Course Quickly," and "Expect the Unexpected." Other books by Isler include "Let's Go Sailing" and "Peter Isler's Little Blue Book of Sailing Secrets." He has been an Editor-at-Large of Sailing World Magazine since 1991. He writes the captions for a notable photographic series in each issue of the magazine titled, "Captain Crash."

Isler has a strong record as a commentator on America's Cup broadcasts. Gary Jobson, who worked closely with Isler on ESPN's coverage during the 1992 and 1995 cycles in San Diego, said, "Peter always had an interesting viewpoint of the action, on and off, the water. He was able to explain a complex technical issue in easy terms." Isler also provided commentary for the Outdoor Life Network for the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2003 in Auckland, the Versus Network in the USA for the 2007 America's Cup in Valencia, Spain, and ACTV for the America's Cup World Series in 2011.

Following his years racing and commentating on the America's Cup, Isler has been active in offshore racing as a navigator. His record includes victories in the Maxi-class World Championship, twice winning the Newport to Bermuda Race, winning the San Francisco to Hawaii Race, winning the Transpacific Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, being a Transatlantic Record Holder (Newport to England), winner of the Marblehead to Halifax Race, and record holder of the Ensenada Race. He has raced on notable yachts like the Disney family's PYEWACKET and George David's RAMBLER 88.

In 1991, Isler co-founded the American Sailing Association with Lenny Shabes, an organization dedicated to sailing instruction, preparation for charter adventures, and safety. He has served as an advisor to the International Yacht Restoration School (1994-2012) and was a Vice Chair of Yale Sailing Associates (1992-2010). He lives in San Diego, California. When not sailing, he plays the guitar and keyboards with a variety of bands and raises Quarter horses.

Lowell North - photo © North Sails

Lowell Orton North (USA) (1929-2019)

Lowell North was an American sailor, engineer, and sailmaker whose relentless pursuit of speed and accuracy transformed competitive sailing and the America's Cup. A world-class racer and visionary founder of North Sails, he combined scientific precision with on-the-water experience to change how sails were designed, built, and used. Every winning America's Cup yacht since 1980 has used North Sails.

North discovered competitive sailing early, growing up in California. At just 16, he and fellow teen Malin Burnham won the 1945 Star Class World Championship, a feat that established him as one of the most promising young sailors of his generation. Even as a teenager, he was already customizing and building his own sails, believing that better sail shapes deliver performance advantages. North studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned an engineering degree in 1952. After graduation, he worked as an aerospace engineer and continued experimenting with sail design in his spare time. In 1957, he left his job to start North Sails, the company that grew to be a worldwide leader in high-performance sail technology.

As a competitor, North was known for intense focus and an unwavering drive to win. Among his most valued achievements were an Olympic bronze medal in the Dragon class in 1964, a gold medal in the Star class at the 1968 Olympic Games, and five Star World Championship titles. His success on the racecourse strengthened his credibility as a sailmaker and validated his belief that precise, engineered sail shapes could unlock new levels of speed.

By the 1970s, North's ambition was to take on Ted Hood's dominance in large-boat sailmaking and America's Cup campaigns in the Post-War Era. In 1977, North skippered the 12-metre ENTERPRISE during the America's Cup defender selection trials, with the yacht outfitted with North sails. Although ENTERPRISE did not go on to defend the Cup, her radical mylar-laminated sails and unique sail shapes attracted widespread attention among top yachtsmen.

Beginning in 1980, North Sails became the sailmaker of choice among most America's Cup teams. Dennis Conner's FREEDOM, which included North sails in its inventory, won the Cup in 1980, solidifying the brand's position at the top of the sport. In 1983, the challenger AUSTRALIA II used innovative North mainsails and genoas to become the first yacht ever to take the Cup from the New York Yacht Club, a major milestone in sporting history. By 2007, marking North Sails' 50th anniversary, 11 of the 12 America's Cup teams chose North Sails, and from 1980 to 2017, about 90% of all sails used in Cup competition worldwide were North products. At the most recent America's Cup, every team was equipped with North Sails.

North's influence heavily relied on his firm belief that sailmaking should be rooted in engineering and science. He likened a sail to a race car engine, seeing speed as the natural result of a more efficient, wing-like surface curvature. Under his leadership, North Sails introduced a range of technological advances to the America's Cup, including the use of computational fluid dynamics in sail design, load-path calculations, Mylar-laminated fabrics, Kevlar and carbon-fiber fabrics, tri-radial genoas and spinnakers, and 3Di molded sails with fibers aligned precisely along load paths. These innovations fundamentally transformed how performance sails are designed, modeled, and manufactured.

Equally significant to North's legacy was his philosophy about people and talent. He fostered a culture centered on a group he called his "Tigers," highly motivated young sailors, designers, and engineers whom he encouraged to compete in the world's most demanding regattas, including the America's Cup. Many of these protégés later became leaders in the sport; five—John Bertrand, John Marshall, Tom Schnackenburg, Grant Simmer, and Tom Whidden—have been inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame, showcasing the depth of mentorship and opportunities North provided.

By the time of his death on June 2, 2019, Lowell North had left a lasting mark on the technology used in the America's Cup and competitive sailing as a whole. Through his championship-winning career, the global success of North Sails, and the generations of sailors and designers he mentored, he changed the performance limits of the sport and helped shape the modern, engineering-focused approach to sailmaking that remains standard today.

America's Cup Hall of Fame Selection Committee