Kevin A. Hall (born in Germany) is a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who has represented the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

at the Summer Olympics and has competed in multiple America's Cup races.

Personal life

Hall graduated from Brown University with degrees in mathematics and French literature. He was also made a member of the Brown Athletic Hall of Fame. He battled testicular cancer when he was 19 and again when he was 22, resulting in the removal of his testicles. He was labeled manic depressive in 1989. He no longer identifies with the label. He has been very open about his relationship with

The Truman Show delusion A ''Truman Show'' delusion, also known as Truman syndrome, is a type of delusion in which the person believes that their life is a staged reality show, or that they are being watched on cameras. The term was coined in 2008 on film boards by broth ...

. Journalist and author Mary Pilon's book "The Kevin Show", released in March 2018, details Hall's struggles with mental illness throughout his life.

Sailing career

He was the 1986 Singlehanded Youth World Champion and the 1987 U.S. Youth Doublehanded Sailing Championship. He was twice

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

national champion. He sailed a Finn in the 1992 Olympic team trials and finished eighth. He attempted to represent the United States in the Laser at the 1996 Olympics, but was denied a therapeutic use exemption he needed for his testosterone replacement, and finished fifth. Along with Morgan Larson, Hall finished third in three consecutive

49er World Championships The 49er World Championships are international sailing regattas in the 49er and 49er FX classes organized by the International Sailing Federation. It was first held in 1997. In 2013, the 49er FX class was added to the programme. The 49er has been ...

between 1997 and 1999. They won the North American Championship title in 1999, only to finish second at the 2000 Olympic team trials. Hall was part of America One at the

2000 Louis Vuitton Cup The 5th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2000. The winner, Prada Challenge, went on to challenge for the 2000 America's Cup. It was the first time in the competition's history that there would not be an American challen ...

and One World Challenge at the

2003 Louis Vuitton Cup The 6th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2003. The winner, Alinghi, went on to challenge for and win the 2003 America's Cup. The teams The Yacht Club Punta Ala was the challenger of record. Alinghi Founded by Swiss busi ...

. He represented

United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics The United States competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. 533 competitors, 279 men and 254 women, took part in 254 events in 31 sports. Medalists , style="text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;", , style="text-al ...

sailing in the Finn class, where he finished 11th. Before competing, he again struggled to obtain a therapeutic use exemption to compete. Hall joined

Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cup i ...

as navigator and was part of the team that won the

2007 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, t ...

before losing the

2007 America's Cup The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and '' Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift o ...

. He also participated in the 2009

Louis Vuitton Pacific Series The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was a match race regatta in America's Cup Class yachts in Auckland, New Zealand during January and February 2009. Racing started on 30 January. The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was organised in association with ...

for Team New Zealand. He joined Artemis Racing for the

2013 America's Cup The 34th America's Cup was a series of yacht races held in San Francisco Bay on September 2013. The series was contested between the defender Oracle Team USA representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the challenger Emirates Team New Zealand ...

and was their head of performance and instruments. However, he quit the campaign following the death of Andrew Simpson. He published a biography called ''Black Sails, White Rabbits'' in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Kevin Living people American male sailors (sport) Brown Bears sailors People with bipolar disorder 2000 America's Cup sailors 2003 America's Cup sailors Olympic sailors of the United States Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Finn Team New Zealand sailors 2007 America's Cup sailors Alinghi sailors 2013 America's Cup sailors Year of birth missing (living people)