Robert S. “Buck” Halperin Memorial Trophy

Click to enlarge

The Robert S. "Buck" Halperin Memorial Trophy

Awarded to the crew of the yacht leading after three races in the World Championship

The Robert S. “Buck” Halperin Memorial Trophy is awarded to the crew of the yacht with the best score after the first three completed races of the World Championship. Yet again, a Star class donor chose to elevate the status of the crew with another Trophy recognizing and highlighting the crew’s vital contribution without which there are no winning skippers. Buck was a sailor in the truest form, both as a Naval Officer and a Star crew. Buck, himself always a crew, was lured to the Star from professional sports, then the Navy, and wanted to highlight his “crew union” brethren.

Born and schooled in Chicago, Buck came from football roots, first playing at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne and then for the NFL team the Brooklyn Dodgers. Joining the US Navy at the onset of World War II, Buck rose to Lieutenant Commander in the Scouts & Raiders, predecessor to the Navy Seals. The Chicago Tribune notes he was "one of the first Americans to go ashore in France, perhaps, the first, on D-Day. "For his exceptionally meritorious performance of duty, and his cool judgment and unusual ability", he was awarded a Bronze Star. Later, he was awarded his first Gold Medal for service in Africa and Sicily. In business, after the war years, Buck was founder and partner in a small foul weather gear start-up distributor, Land’s End. Buck was enshrined in the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.

Navy experience instilled the perfect crew attitude, and Buck was as successful in the Star boat as he was in the Navy and in business. At the 1960 Olympics in Naples, Italy, Buck won the Bronze Medal with skipper Bill Parks, and followed that with a Gold Medal, sailing with Richard Sterns in the 1963 Pan Am Games. Awarded from one crew to another, this trophy has a special meaning for those who take it home.

YEAR	BOAT	SKIPPER	CREW	FLEET	ENTRIES	LOCATION	RESULTS
2025	#8602	Mateusz Kusznierewicz	Bruno Prada	ISOL	101	Split, Croatia	Results
2024	#8538	Will Stout	Danny Cayard	SDB	64	San Diego, CA, USA	Results
2023	#8583	Diego Negri	Alessandro Sodano	VE	96	Scarlino, Italy	Results
2022	#8525	Diego Negri	Sergio Lambertenghi	VE	84	Marblehead, MA, USA	Results
2021	#8567	Diego Negri	Frithjof Kleen	VE	82	Kiel, Germany	Results
2020	Not Held
2019	#8509	Augie Diaz	Henry Boening	BisB	63	Porto Cervo, Italy	Results
2018	#8210	Jorge Zarif	Guilherme de Almeida	Gua	60	Oxford, MD, USA	Results
2017	#8317	Eivind Melleby	Josh Revkin	ISOL	70	Troense, Denmark	Results
2016	#8467	Augie Diaz	Bruno Prada	BisB	72	Miami, FL, USA	Results
2015	#8497	Diego Negri	Sergio Lambertenghi	VE	39	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Results
2014	#8317	Eivind Melleby	Bruno Prada	Nor	87	Lake Garda, Italy	Results
2013	#8203	Brian Ledbetter	Gregg Morton	PS	66	San Diego Bay, CA, USA	Results
2012	#8471	Iain Percy	Andrew Simpson	SO	72	Hyeres, France	Results
2011	#8367	Mark Mendelblatt	Brian Fatih	TaB	41	Perth, Australia	Results
2010	#8371	Iain Percy	Andrew Simpson	SO	73	Rio de Janiero, Brazil	Results
2009	#8267	Mark Mendelblatt	Mark Strube	TaB	86	Varberg, Sweden	Results
2008	#8349	Iain Murray	Andrew Palfrey	LMac	104	Miami, FL, USA	Results
2007	#8107	Xavier Rohart	Pascal Rambeau	NI	62	Cascais, Portugal	Results
2006	#8156	Andy Horton	Brad Nichol	NB	66	San Francisco, CA, USA	Results
2005	#8107	Xavier Rohart	Pascal Rambeau	NI	52	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Results
2004	#8028	Mark Neeleman	Peter van Niekerk	Med	102	Gaeta, Italy	Results
2003	#8040	Francesco Bruni	Guido Vigna	Pal	83	Cadiz, Spain	Results
2002	#8109	Torben Grael	Marcelo Ferreira	Gua	103	Los Angeles Harbor, CA, USA	Results
2001	#8065	Gavin Brady	George Iversen	NZL	105	Medemblik, Netherlands	Results
2000	#7939	Gavin Brady	Jamie Gale	NZL	112	Annapolis, MD, USA	Results
1999	#7876	Ross MacDonald	Kai Bjorn	EB	129	Punta Ala, Italy	Results
1998	#7828	Colin Beashel	David Giles	SY	95	Portoroz, Slovenia	Results
1997	#7834	Peter Bromby	Michael Marcel	N	71	Marblehead, MA, USA	Results
1996	#7826	Torben Grael	Marcelo Ferreira	Gua	61	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Results
1995	#7835	Ross MacDonald	Eric Jespersen	EB	76	Loredo, Spain	Results
1994	#7737	Ross MacDonald	Eric Jespersen	EB	97	San Diego, CA, USA	Results
1993	#7713	Joe Londrigan	Phil Trinter	SDB	90	Kiel, Germany	Results
1992	#7640	John Kostecki	George Iverson	WSFB	53	San Francisco, CA, USA	Results
1991	#7488	Roberto Benamati	Mario Salani	Gar	119	Cannes, France	Results
1990	#7405	Carl Buchan	Hugo Schreiner	PS	95	Cleveland, OH, USA	Results
1989	#7288	Mark Reynolds	Hal Haenel	SDB	105	Porto Cervo, Italy	Results
1988	#7225	Paul Cayard	Steve Erickson	SDB	70	Buenos aires, Argentina	Results
1987	#7225	Paul Cayard	Steve Erickson	WSFB	79	Chicago, IL, USA	Results

TROPHY ARCHIVE