Born with Wings

Eulogy, by Bob Gentry

His genius was apparent at an early age. As a teenager he was fascinated with airplanes of the 2nd World War, and he loved making incredibly detailed balsa wood models that anyone would admit looked like the real thing. In junior college, one of his first part-time jobs was to provide the detailed design for an elderly gentleman for an ornithopter airplane that was intended to fly by flapping its wings. The owner of this “ancient” idea already had the “ladder-wings”, but was not able to build and live out his dream.

At a summer job in his late teens, Arvel was employed in a work-study program at the China Lake Naval Ordinance Test Station in California, where his assignment was to help collect and analyze flight data from historical flights of the Bell X-1 rocket plane that first broke the sound barrier. Engineering became Arvel’s passion at an early age, and he eventually graduated with an Engineering Degree from UC Berkeley and went on to get his Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from USC.

Arvel’s early interest in sailing began with his fierce competitive spirit and his participation in local and national competition with his Cal-20 sailboat. As the wave of passion for sailing washed over him, Arvel moved from his Cal-20 to his more competitive Ranger-23, “Kittywake”. His engineering mind very quickly saw that the aerodynamic rules for aircraft also applied to the sailing craft, and the rest of the story is history. He became a consistent winner in Southern California, with trophies that included the Little Whitney Series. “Kittywake” was fully instrumented by Arvel with sensors and chart recorders to constantly measure and record critical sailing adjustments so that overall performance could be significantly optimized. In plain language, that means W-I-N. And he did!

With his aeronautical education, sailing experience, computerized aircraft design experience at Boeing Aircraft, plus knowledge of fluid dynamics, Arvel saw that changes could be made to America’s Cup sailboat masts, hulls, keels and sails, to improve their speed and overall performance. He received immeasurable joy from working closely with America’s Cup captains, including Dennis Conner with the superstar “Courageous”, and with “American Eagle”. Through his many scientific articles for “Sail” magazine, “The Best of Sail” hardcover book, and the internet, Arvel made it possible to improve each sailor’s performance. He showed how a vessel can be lifted “into the wind”, and re-defined for the world the interaction of sails and how sails really work.

God Bless You, Arvel Gentry. We will Miss You. You have been, and will always be, part of the Sea.

Sincerely, with loving memories, your brother and crewmate,
Bob Gentry