C. Stanley Ogilvy

Charles Stanley Ogilvy (1913–2000) was an American mathematician, sailor, and author. He was a professor of mathematics at Hamilton College (New York), and a frequent competitor at the Star World Championships. His many books include works on both mathematics and sailing.^[1][2][3][4]

Ogilvy grew up sailing near New Rochelle, New York, on the mainland side of the Long Island Sound.^[1][2] Beginning in 1931 he crewed for Howard McMichael on the two-man Star class Grey Fox, and in 1934 he bought the boat and renamed it the Jay.^[1][3] He won over 47 regattas, and was a frequent competitor in the Star World Championships;^[3] his best finishes were second in 1947 (crewing for Hilary Smart) and third in 1949 and 1951 (both with his own boat, Flame).^[5] Later, he also sailed Etchells.^[1][2]

Ogilvy belonged to the Larchmont Yacht Club for 62 years, and served as its historian.^[1] He was the first vice president of the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association, edited its publications for many years, and also served as historian for the class.^[3]

In 1990, Ogilvy was the second recipient of the Harry Nye Memorial Trophy of the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association, in recognition of his contributions to Star class sailing.^[6] The C. Stanley Ogilvy Masters Trophy, an antique sextant awarded to a sailor over the age of 50, was named in his honor and has been presented annually by the Etchells World Championships since 1999.^[7]

Ogilvy went to the Berkshire School, then did his undergraduate studies at Williams College.^[1][2] During World War II, his bad eyesight preventing him from serving in the Navy; instead he became the commander of a rescue boat on the Pacific Front for the U.S. Army.^[8] After earning an M.A. from Cambridge University and an M.S. at Columbia University, and doing additional studies at Princeton University, Ogilvy finished his graduate studies with a PhD in mathematics from Syracuse University in 1954.^[1][2][3][9] His thesis, supervised by Walter R. Baum, was entitled An Investigation of Some Properties of Asymptotic Lines on Surfaces of Negative Gaussian Curvature.^[9]

Ogilvy began his teaching career at Trinity College (Connecticut), and joined the faculty of Hamilton College (New York) in 1953.^[1][3] He chaired the mathematics department beginning in 1969, and was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He remained at Hamilton until 1974, when he retired so that he could spend more of his time sailing.^[2]

Ogilvy died on June 21, 2000, in Mamaroneck, New York.^[1][2][3][4]

Ogilvy wrote many books on both mathematics and sailing,^[2] which were translated into several other languages.^[1] They include:

• Successful Yacht Racing (Norton, 1951)^[1][10]
• Through the Mathescope (Oxford Univ. Press, 1956).^[1][11] Later republished as Excursions in Mathematics.^[12]
• Tomorrow's Math: Unsolved Problems for the Amateur (Oxford Univ. Press, 1962)^[1][13]
• Thoughts on Small Boat Racing (Van Nostrand, 1966)^[1][14]
• Excursions in Number Theory (with John T. Anderson, Oxford Univ. Press, 1966)^[12][15]
• Excursions in Geometry (Oxford Univ. Press, 1969)^{[1][12][16][17]}
• Win More Sailboat Races (Norton, 1976)^[1]
• A History of the Star Class: The First Eighty Years (International Star Class Yacht Racing Association, 1991)^[3]
• The Larchmont Yacht Club: A History, 1880–1990 (Larchmont Yacht Club, 1993)^[1]