Remembering Roger Vaughan, Prolific Sailing Writer and Storyteller
We remember Roger Vaughan, a gifted author and sailor whose words captured the spirit of ocean racing, the America’s Cup, and a life at sea.
Jeff Williams/Courtesy Roger Vaughan Estate
Roger Vaughan, whose words brought the drama of ocean racing and the personalities of sailing to life for generations of readers, died on August 25, 2025, at his home in Easton, Maryland. He was 88.
A prolific author and journalist, Vaughan wrote 22 books and countless articles spanning sports, music, business, and the arts. But among sailors, he was best known for chronicling yacht racing’s triumphs and tragedies, and for capturing the spirit of life at sea. His work appeared in Cruising World over the years, as well as in Life, National Geographic, Yachting, and other publications.
Vaughan’s first sailing book, The Grand Gesture, covered Ted Turner’s failed America’s Cup campaign in 1974. He later documented Turner’s 1977 victory, cementing his place as one of the most insightful voices writing about the Cup. In 1979, Vaughan raced aboard the maxi yacht Kialoa in the infamous Fastnet Race, a storm-lashed event that claimed 15 lives. His firsthand account, Fastnet: One Man’s Voyage, remains one of the most gripping narratives of ocean racing ever written.
Over his long career, Vaughan tackled subjects ranging from baseball legend Tony Gwynn to NASCAR, professional hockey, golf, and concert conducting. In the sailing world, he captured stories of icons such as Larry Ellison, Harry Anderson, and Patsy Kennedy Bolling. His ability to connect with people was, as colleagues often noted, both disarming and honest.
In addition to books and magazine features, Vaughan co-wrote with Kimball Livingston the 1992 sailing film Wind, bringing the thrill of the America’s Cup to the big screen. He also joined the Russian yacht Fazisi for a leg of the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race, producing a vivid account of the Southern Ocean and the passage around Cape Horn.
Born in Athol, Massachusetts, in 1937, Vaughan’s love of sailing began during summers aboard the classic L. Francis Herreshoff ketch Ticonderoga, where he honed his seamanship. He sailed competitively at Brown University alongside Ted Turner, before embarking on a journalism career that saw him cover Bob Dylan’s European tour, the Beatles, and the Woodstock Festival for Life magazine.
Later in life, Vaughan continued writing for sailing outlets and producing scripts for ESPN sailing coverage and documentaries. He was known for his mantra: “If it is boring to write, it will be boring to read.”
Vaughan is survived by his wife, Kathryn “Kip” Requardt, whom he married in 1980, and a son, Roger, from his first marriage.
In recent years, he quietly completed a memoir, Flashing Lights in the Rearview Mirror, a 300-page narrative that remains unpublished.
As longtime friend Gary Jobson wrote, Vaughan had a rare ability to capture “the inner drive successful people have.” For sailors everywhere, his words will continue to resonate across oceans.
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