BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
WILLIAM I. KOCH (BILL)
Founder of the William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup
THE WILLIAM I. KOCH INTERNATIONAL SEA SCOUT CUP
William I, Koch (Bill) was born May 3, 1940 in Wichita, Kansas to Fred C. Koch and Mary Robinson Koch. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he obtained a BS, a MS and PhD in chemical engineering. He had three brothers, Frederick R. Koch, David Koch and Charles Koch.
Bill Koch and his three brothers operated their father’s business, Koch Industries, which was in the oil production, refining and transportation business until 1980. In 1980, he separated from the family business and started his own company, Oxbow Corporation. Forbes estimates his net worth at 1.8 billion.
Bill Koch won the America’s Cup race in 1992 with the yacht AMERICA 3. Defeating the Italian challenger Il Moro De Venzia. America 3’s overall record, including trials, was 28 – 10. Bill spent a reported $65 million and though he was an amateur, commanded the yacht himself assisted by veteran sailors like Buddy Melges. Bill was inducted into the Americas Cup Hall of Fame in1993 and into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2018.
Bill is a collector and has in his collection a scale model of every boat that has sailed in the America’s Cup since 1881. He also has a collection of the finest wines in the world about 25,000 bottles. He has over 3000 firearms most with historic significance. He has purchased and moved to his 5000 acre ranch in Colorado, a complete ghost town. The Smithsonian Institute has stated that this town has the largest collection of American Western artifacts in the world. For instance, he has the house where Billy the Kid was killed. The table where he died still has visible blood stains. He has Billy the Kid’s gun and the gun that killed him.
In 2002, Mr. Koch decided to revive the Sea Scout Cup. Mr. Koch has long been a supporter of youth organizations. He believed that bringing together young people from around the world with a common interest in sailing would help foster world brotherhood. He personally designed the trophy for the event. He commissioned Gerrards of London to make the trophy. Gerrards made the original America’s Cup trophy in 1881. The Sea Scout Trophy is 30 inches tall, two inches taller than the original America’s Cup Trophy and is made of sterling silver, at a cost of over $100,000.00. Mr. Koch said, “If you are going to have the greatest youth sailing event in the world you need the finest trophy in the world”.
RICHARD JAMES ELROY (JIM)
Chairman of the William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup
THE WILLIAM I. KOCH INTERNATIONAL SEA SCOUT CUP
Jim Elroy was born in San Fernando, California, a suburb of the City of Los Angeles on September 4, 1940. He was the son of Richard Elroy and Helen Newman Elroy. His father was a dental technician and his mother was a real estate sales person. He had a sister, Pamela Elroy Worden.
In 1951, he became a Boy Scout, a member of Troop 102 in Panorama City, California. He rose to the rank of Eagle Scout. He became an Explorer Scout and a Sea Scout. In his adult life he was a Scoutmaster, Explorer Advisor and Sea Scout Skipper. He was a member of the National Sea Scout Committee for 25 years. He wrote portions of the Sea Scout Manual. He was the National Coordinator for Sea Scout Training. He created leadership training course for Sea Scouts called Sea Experience Advanced Leadership or SEAL. This is a week- long course conducted underway on a 40 to 50 foot boat. Each student must pass tests on deck seamanship, navigation, rules of the road, aids to navigation, training, emergency drills and boat mechanics. Each student must take command of the vessel for a 24 hour period.
Jim Elroy served as Police Officer, a Police Sgt., a police Detective and a police Lt. While serving on a Police SWAT Team he was awarded the Medal of Valor, for his part in rescuing a fallen officer during a gun battle with an armed suspect. He then became a Special Agent of the FBI, where he served for 21 years and retired. He was a member of an FBI SWAT Team and an FBI Hostage Negotiator. While an FBI Agent, he was a U.S. Coast Guard licensed Captain and as such went undercover into Columbia and transported cocaine for the Cartels in Columbia to the USA by ship. He served as a lead investigator for the United States Senate committee on investigations. After retirement, he went to work for William I. Koch in Mr. Koch’s legal department.
Jim is a licensed U.S. Coast Guard Captain. He is a SCUBA instructor, a first aid instructor, an emergency medical technician, a sailing instructor, a special weapons instructor and a Water Safety Instructor. He has logged 2000 days at sea.
In 2002, Jim convinced William I. Koch to revive and sponsor the Sea Scout Cup. The event was named after Mr. Koch and became the William I. Koch international Sea Scout Cup.