Mystic Seaport will present its 2017 America and the Sea Award to David Rockefeller Jr. and Sailors for the Sea. Given annually by the Museum, the prestigious award recognizes individuals or organizations whose contribution to the history, arts, business, or sciences of the sea best exemplify the American character.
Sailors for the Sea, which was co-founded by Rockefeller, works to engage the boating community in the worldwide protection of the oceans. Through its Clean Regattas and Ocean Watch programs and Green Boating Guide, the organization successfully motivates boaters to become environmental stewards.
“We are proud to recognize the tremendous contribution David Rockefeller Jr. and Sailors for the Sea have made to educate and activate the maritime community in the goal of conserving and protecting the health of our oceans. By forging a connection between boaters and ways in which they can help conserve the environment, they inspire all of us to take better care of the world in which we live,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport.
“Sailors for the Sea and I are incredibly honored to join the illustrious roster of America and the Sea Award recipients. Through this opportunity we look forward to fostering an even deeper collegial relationship with Mystic Seaport, broadening the scope and outreach of both organizations. It paves the way for our two organizations to collaborate more directly on projects that serve our shared ideals, and raise awareness of the issues both organizations hold dear, our maritime past and present and the future vitality of our oceans,” said Rockefeller.
David Rockefeller Jr., Chairman of Rockefeller & Co., is an active participant in the nonprofit arena, especially in the areas of the environment, the arts and philanthropy. He served as a member of the Pew Oceans Commission from 2000-2003, and he founded Sailors for the Sea to educate the recreational boating community about significant challenges to ocean health and to motivate them to become ocean stewards. Sailors for the Sea is located in Newport, RI, with satellite offices in Japan, Portugal, and Chile.
Rockefeller is a Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, the Asian Cultural Council and the David Rockefeller Fund. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Former foundation affiliations include service as Trustee and Chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, President of the Rockefeller Family Fund and Director of the Boston Foundation. He is the former chair of the North American Nominating Committee for the Praemium Imperiale, the Japanese prize for outstanding international achievement in the arts.
He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and is married to Susan Cohn Rockefeller, an artist and filmmaker.
Past recipients of the America and the Sea Award include oceanographer and explorer Sylvia Earle, historian David McCullough, legendary yacht designer Olin Stephens, President and CEO of Crowley Maritime Corporation, Thomas Crowley, philanthropist William Koch, former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, WoodenBoat Publications founder Jon Wilson, yachtsman and author Gary Jobson, maritime industrialist Charles A. Robertson, author Nathaniel Philbrick, and Rod and Bob Johnstone and their company J/Boats.
Rockefeller will receive the award Wednesday, October 11, at a gala held in his honor in New York City. This black tie affair is the premier fund-raising event for Mystic Seaport. For invitations, please contact advancement@mysticseaport.org/ or call 860.572.5365.
The J/Boats story began in 1974 when Rod, then an ad salesman for Soundings Magazine, designed and started building the 24-foot sailboat Ragtime in his Stonington, CT garage. Launched in the Spring of 1976, it beat everything in sight.
Bob and Rod grew up racing LI One-Designs and Lightnings at the Wadawanuck YC in Stonington CT, where from 1947 to 1954 they took home many club and ECYRA trophies. With their father, Rob, they built Lightning #3310 in a suburban Glen Ridge, NJ, garage, setting them on a course of sailing for life.
After Princeton (’58) Rod started designing and building sailboats while teaching history at the Millbrook School in NY from 1959 to 1962. He then ran a yacht brokerage in Stonington, later becoming a planner for submarine builder Electric Boat Co. Rod sold ads for Soundings from 1970 to 1977 when he came to know the key players in the sailboat industry, especially Everett Pearson, whose role as builder of J Boats designs for over 25 years was key to their success. In 1988 Rod co-founded Johnstone Yachts, Inc. with nephew Clay Burkhalter to produce his JY 15 sailboat design. Nephew-in-law, David Eck, took over in 1991 and produced over 3,300 JY 15s. Mystic Seaport uses JY 15s in its sail training program. Rod still helps design new J/ Boats and continues to race actively. He has won championships in the J/24, J/22, J/30, J/35, J/120, J/70 and J/88 classes and at various Race Weeks. Rod and his wife, Lucia, live in Stonington. He is a member and Past Commodore of the Wadawanuck Yacht Club, a member of the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club, Past Chairman of the Stonington Board of Education, and member of the Stonington Harbor Management Commission.
