On the same day the United States lost the America’s Cup to New Zealand, a San Diegan who designed Cup-winning boats for both countries died after a long bout with cancer.
Doug Peterson, a longtime Point Loma resident and San Diego Yacht Club member, was 71. His friend, Chris Calkins, said Peterson died Monday in a San Diego hospital.
Peterson was one of the top yacht designers in the world in the 1970s and part of the 1980s, then revived his career in the 1990s. He was voted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame earlier this year; the induction ceremony is scheduled for October at the USS Midway Museum.
In the mid-1970s, Peterson’s designs, often in partnership with Dennis Conner, dominated offshore racing contests.
In 1992 he ed with Bill Koch’s group and helped design America3, which defended the Cup in San Diego. Three years later, he wasn’t hired for the defense so he ed Team New Zealand as one of its lead designers and helped the Kiwis’ Black Magic win the Cup, again in San Diego, over Conner’s Stars and Stripes.
“A whole generation of yacht designers worked at some point for him and went on to be the principle designers during the past 30 years,” said Calkins. “He had a ion for the traditions of design and yachting.”
Peterson is survived by four children — Mark, Jamie, Laura and Julia.
[email protected]; Twitter: @sdutposner
