The Dragon Class has attracted an impressive roster of famous sailors, Olympic champions, political figures, and even royalty. Read about some of the notable people associated with the class.
The Dragon Class has royal connections dating back to its inception. The design was approved in 1928 by the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club, the Royal Danish Yacht Club and the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club after Johan Anker won the design competition. King Constantine of Greece became Olympic Champion in Naples in 1960, and has been President of the International Dragon Class since then. Prince Henrik from Denmark was an active dragon sailor during his life, and his son Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark succeeded him as Vice President of the International Dragon Association. King Juan Carlos of Spain competed in the 1972 Olympics in Kiel, finishing in fifteenth place. In Belgium, a Dragon named Elan was presented to King Baudoin I in 1951.
The yacht Bluebottle was built for Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh by Camper and Nicholson in their yards at Gosport. She is still competing successfully today. H.R.H. Prince Philip (the Duke of Edinburgh) presented the Canadian Yachting Association with the Duke of Edinburgh Trophy. Even more notably, in 1954 Prince Philip brought his Dragon yacht, Bluebottle (a wedding present from the Island Sailing Club of Cowes), to Canada where it was raced in Montreal, Hamilton and Toronto against local Dragon sailors. Prince Philip also gave a trophy to Australia for their National Dragon Championship (the Prince Philip Cup).
Top European Sailors
The class has been dominated by sailors from Denmark, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands, including Poul-Richard Høj-Jensen, Ole Berntsen, Aage Birch, Børge Børresen, Thor Thorvaldsen, Markus Wieser, Vincent Hoesch, Tommy Muller, and Fred Imhoff. These sailors have helped maintain the Dragon’s reputation as the choice for elite-level competition.
American Champions
Lowell North – Won a Bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 in the Dragon Class. North went on to found North Sails, one of the world’s leading sailmakers.
Buddy Friedrichs – New Orleans native who won Gold at the Olympics in Acapulco, Mexico in 1968. He was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2019.
Bob Mosbacher – A remarkable figure who won the silver medal in World Championships Dragon class in 1967 in Toronto and the gold medal in World Championships Dragon class at Palma de Mallorca in 1969 by one point. As of 2010, he was one of only two Americans to have ever won the World Championships in the Dragon class. Mosbacher later became U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President George H.W. Bush. His brother, Bus Mosbacher, won the America’s Cup twice.
Don Cohan – From Philadelphia, took home the Olympic Bronze medal in the final Olympic Competition for the Dragon class in Kiel, Germany in 1972.
John Foster Dulles – In 1955, John Foster Dulles, then U.S. Secretary of State, donated the John Foster Dulles Trophy to the Crescent Yacht Club in Chaumont, New York for Dragon Class competition to promote international goodwill and sportsmanship in the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River area.