Halperin, sailed for the Chicago Yacht Club and the Southern Lake Michigan Fleet. He won the North American Star Championship in 1959.
He won a bronze medal for the United States in the Star class (mixed two-person keelboat) at the 1960 Summer Olympics in the Bay of Naples in Italy, at the age of 52, together with William Parks. Their yacht was the Shrew II.
In 1963, he won a gold medal along with Richard Stearns at the Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, sailing the Ninotchka.
At the World Championships, the names of the crew whose yacht has the best total score are engraved on the Buck Halperin Trophy, named after him.
1960 Olympics Bronze Medal
1963 Pan American Games - Gold Medal