Gordon K. (Sandy) Douglass

Gordon K. "Sandy" Douglass (October 22, 1904 – February 12, 1992) was a racer, designer, and builder of sailing dinghies. Two of his designs, the Thistle and the Flying Scot, are among the most popular one design racing classes in the United States. The Flying Scot was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame. As a small boat racer, Douglass was five times the North American champion in the 10 Square Meter International Sailing Canoe, five times the United States national champion in the Thistle, and seven times the Flying Scot North American champion.

Douglass was born in 1904, in Newark, New Jersey. His father, George P. Douglass, was a real estate manager who became manager of The Dakota, a famous apartment building in New York City, moving the family there in 1920. George P. Douglass was a champion sailing canoe racer, and Sandy Douglass learned to sail by being on sailboats from his infancy. His family vacationed in the Thousand Islands region of the Saint Lawrence River, eventually buying a small island there.

Douglass went to prep school at Collegiate School in New York City, then to Dartmouth College, graduating in 1926. His athletic pursuits included college gymnastics, canoe paddling, ice boating, and sailing canoe racing. He qualified for the Canadian national canoe paddling team, but was not allowed to go to the 1936 Olympics because he was American. Douglass befriended the famous English boat designer and racer Uffa Fox, whom he met through sailing canoe racing.

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