Among the sailors of Canada who have made the country proud, Donald MacKenzie Green is one such name. He was proclaimed as one of the key figures in America’s Cup campaigns of the eighties. It was a time to commemorate him since he passed away on February 18th this year. He was 86 years old at the time of his death.

He had achieved several accolades. One of them was being inducted into Canadian Hall of Fame last year. He also received several distinctions such as Member of Order of Canada in 1980 which is a civilian honor given to distinguished members of the nation. The Governor-General’s office commemorated him since he had brought honor as a yachtman of the country, having won Canada’s Cup in the year 1978.

His early years were in Ontario where he grew up and learned to sail at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club. In the fifties, when he was a teenager, he sailed the Yankee, a brigantine 96 foot long and took it around the world. His experiences were documented in a book that was published later, called the White Wings around the World.

When he graduated from Ryerson Polytechnic University, he did so with a mechanical engineering degree. He then took on CEO and Chairman Position of Tridon. This was a company headquartered in his home town and that is where he settled down. The passion that he had for sailboats and racing was passed onto his daughter and son. They motivated him to race in local races and that is what got him into the second leg of sailing. They sailed around Lake Ontario on several triumphant races. He then went onto taking Canada’s Cup challenge in 1978. Don was able to live his passion for sailing well, in his early years and later and that is what most people remembered him for.