Jan O’Malley was named US Sailing’s Yachtswoman of the Year three times in 1969, 1970 and 1977.  Two of these honors were for winning the Adams Cup for the North American Women’s Sailing Championship with her sister-in-law, Pat O’Malley.  In 1977, the pair won the first International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) Women’s Sailing Championship held at Hayling Island just east of Portsmouth, England.  The regatta was a test by the international governing body to see if a women’s division should be included in the Olympic Games.  She says, “There was a lot of enthusiasm for it when they thought there ought to be separate events for women in the Olympics.”  Sam Merrick, a fellow Barnegat Bay, New Jersey sailor was Chair of the US Olympic Yachting Committee and recruited O’Malley to serve on his committee.  The USA won three Gold and four Silver Medals in seven classes in 1984.  O’Malley represented the United States on the IRYU committee that established the first Olympic Class in 470s for the 1988 Olympics in Pusan, South Korea.  It should be noted that the Paris 2024 Olympics included equal quotas of male and female athletes in sailing and an equal of number of available medals.

Sailing at a high level was a part of the Chance family lure.  Her father, Dr. Britton Chance, won a Gold Medal in the 1952 Olympics in the 5.5 Meter Class in Helsinki, Finland.  An older brother, Britton Chance, Jr. served on design teams for three winning America’s Cup campaigns (1970, 1987, 1988).  Jan and her husband, Edwin O’Malley have won championships on Barnegat Bay in several classes including, E Scows, M Scows, Sneakboxes, 470s, Tasers, Laser II’s and they have been long time multihull competitors.

She tells a story when she was ten years old about her father giving her a Health Kit radio, to assemble.  Jan says, “Dad had a positive influence on each of us that was broad and profound.  He was truly an oracle of knowledge on any subject.  He gave us the tools and freedom to choose what we wanted to become, on the water and in life.”   She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in chemistry and earned a master’s degree from Monmouth University in computer science.  She had a long career at Bell Labs.

She has served as a US Sailing certified judge at many regattas including the US Olympic trials, Youth, Bemis, Smythe and Sears Cup championships.  She served as Chair of the US Yacht Racing Union Class Racing Committee and created the double-handed and single-handed United States women’s championship with Hall of Fame sailor, Jane Pegel.

As an 18-year-old sailor about to head off to college, Jan Chance weighed only 120 pounds and yet was competitive in the Olympic Finn Class.  One of her yacht club mates, Carl Van Duyne would represent the USA at the Olympics four years later.  But in 1964, she acquired a used Finn from Gary Mull, who would become a prolific yacht designer and is being inducted with O’Malley this year in the National Sailing Hall of Fame.

~ Gary Jobson