America’s Cup Patron and Hall of Famer Lucy Jewett Passes

San Francisco lost one of its grandest matriarchs just before Christmas. Lucille “Lucy” McIntyre Jewett passed away peacefully at the age of 94, in her Pacific Heights home.

Jewett was passionately and deeply involved with not only sailing and the America’s Cup here in the Bay Area, along with her late husband George “Fritz” Jewett who died in 2008, but also with her other love, the San Francisco Ballet. Together with Fritz, Jewett supported both of her passions financially, on many occasions.

Fritz was inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame in 2005, as he and Lucy were key backers within multiple America’s Cup defender and challenger syndicates.

On the waterfront with the America’s Cup teams they supported, the couple had a very visible and supportive presence.

Their America’s Cup journey began when they became the owners of Intrepid, which had defended the Cup in 1967 and 1970. The legendary Olin Stephens design was known that summer in Newport, RI, as “The People’s Boat” and came breathtakingly close to winning the defenders trials against Courageous.

“I got a phone call from Fritz, this was in 1973, and he said, ‘Guess what I did? I bought Intrepid (the winning yacht of the 1970 America’s Cup),’ Lucy recounted in an interview with Julian Guthrie. “I said, ‘Great. What will you do with Intrepid?’ He said, ‘I’m going to race her in the America’s Cup,’ and off we went.

“We had fun. We had a lot of fun!” she remembered.

It was then on to the infamous Dennis Conner campaigns, with Freedom in 1980, as well as Conner’s subsequent Stars & Stripes campaigns in 1983, 1987, 1988 and beyond. Throughout these efforts Lucy was the quiet leader among members of the crew, their families, and the team principals, sponsors and supporters.

After winning the America’s Cup in Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1987, the entire team was treated like royalty in New York City. “The ticker-tape parade was incredible and drew hundreds of thousands of people along Fifth Avenue,” Jewett said.

They also funded syndicates in 1992 and 1995. The Jewetts returned to the fray again in 2000 as Fritz served as chairman of the board of directors with Paul Cayard and the St. Francis Yacht Club’s America One challenge. Unfortunately, the effort fell painfully short of reaching the America’s Cup Match after losing an epic Louis Vuitton Cup final to Luna Rossa 5-4. (It wasn’t just the green dye in the spinnakers that made the difference.)

“Fritz and Lucy were a great team, a beautiful team,” said Cayard at the time. “Fritz was a very understated, kind of a soft-spoken and gentle leader. Lucy has this fun-loving personality, and she was great on the boat and kept her humor in some tense and difficult situations.”

In 2010, when Larry Ellison brought the America’s Cup “home” for the 2013 Cup on the Bay, Lucy was instrumental in helping raise funds with the America’s Cup Organizing Committee. She worked with Marc Buell, Tom Perkins, Bob Billingham and many others to help the Bay host the 34th America’s Cup.

Fittingly, Lucy was inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame in 2013 in a “secret” Louis Vuitton Party ceremony (which is customary) with Australia skipper Noel Robbins, and Grant Simmer who was then with Oracle Team USA.

She worked very hard here in the yachting community to help raise the visibility, awareness and some of the funds necessary for a successful defense of the America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013. The whole spectrum and grandeur of this event is made better by her efforts.

When Lucy and Fritz started in the America’s Cup, “no one was paid these big salaries. You paid for the sailors’ food and clothing and lodging over the summer, when they trained. We bought Intrepid for $75,000.”

Backing an America’s Cup syndicate today in Barcelona, Spain, can cost well over $150 million.

Jewett’s long involvement with and passion for the event and its people have made her an iconic figure in the America’s Cup world, where she is incredibly well respected as both an advisor and mentor. She will be deeply missed.