John Bertrand (sailor, 1946)

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John Edwin Bertrand AO (born December 20, 1946 in Melbourne , Victoria ) is a sailor from Australia who led the 12mR yacht Australia II as skipper in 1983 to the first victory over the Americans in the 25th America's Cup . With this victory, he ended a 132-year streak of victories for the Americans, which is unprecedented in the history of sports.

Life

John Bertrand has been sailing since his early teens and quickly became a national dinghy master. Sir James Hardy invited him in 1970 as a sailing trimmer on his challenger yacht Gretel II in the 21st America's Cup. He took part in two Olympic Games for Australia, reached the unfortunate fourth place in difficult wind conditions in 1972 in Kiel and then won the bronze medal in the one-man boat class Finn-Dinghi at the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal (Canada) on Lake Ontario in 1976 .

After his first (of four) participation in the America's Cup as a challenger, Bertrand studied shipbuilding construction at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with Professor Jerry Milgram , who taught him not only fluid dynamics but also tactical dinghy sailing. At the MIT sailing club and off Marblehead , Bertrand discovered the intricacies of match racing and American dinghy sailing. He met Robbie Doyle , who introduced him to the Finn dinghy class. When he first started in 1971 at the "Gold Cup" in Toronto , he finished eighth in a loaned MIT Finn, and second the next year.

After the Olympic Games in Kiel, he helped yacht designer Ben Lexcen with his knowledge from his diploma at MIT to develop the design of the Australian challenger yacht Southern Cross . He then vowed never to take part in the America's Cup again. He went to Peter Barrett to Pewaukee ( Wisconsin ) to the sailmaker craft to learn. He worked jointly with Olaf and Peter Harken to the development of the first Finns brand Vanguard (now Harken, Inc. ).

He is a member of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club in Melbourne, Australia and currently competes in Etchells class regattas .

25th America's Cup 1983

Wing keel of Australia II

John Bertrand steered the challenger Australia II designed by Ben Lexcen with the revolutionary wing keel that was kept secret until the end of the regatta series . Due to the new keel, which complied with the regulations, the yacht had a significantly higher base speed compared to the American defender Liberty, which was skipped by Dennis Conner . In addition was Australia II higher upwind sailing (direct against the wind), and they could turn faster or turn because they had no traditional long keel. The Australia II belonged to the Australian businessman Alan Bond , who in 1983 competed for the fourth time after three unsuccessful attempts.

The regatta series gained national importance through the media, despite the marginal sport of sailing. The regatta off Newport (Rhode Island) , which was designed for four wins in seven races, was finally equalized by Team Australia II after a quick initial success by Liberty with changing leadership in the decisive sixth race with a lead of 1 minute and 21 seconds to make it 3: 3.

The Americans realized that their winning streak could end after 132 years. The big papers covered the America's Cup on the front pages and called the regatta The Race of the Century . Never before in the history of the America's Cup had there been six or seven races to determine the winner. In the last race, John Bertrand and his young team were able to beat the American Dennis Conner with Liberty after a tough fight with 47 turns by 41 seconds.

When handing the Cup there was a delay because craftsmen had the Club building of the New York Yacht Club firmly screwed bottomless pot only from its pedestal unscrew. You couldn't imagine losing this trophy.

The win of the America's Cup by an Australian team spurred sailing down under immensely and made the AC Syndicates in New Zealand make new efforts to win the cup.

After his great success in the America's Cup, John Bertrand wrote the book Born to Win , in which he described the competitions in front of Newport and also revealed his strategies during the preparations for the regatta series, how he managed to turn a young team with little chance of winning into winners .

Life today

John Bertrand is now Chairman of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and The Allanah and Madeline Foundation , named after Allanah & Madeline Mikac, who were murdered in the Port Arthur massacre.

Honors

  • January 26, 1984: Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services in sailing, especially as the helmsman of the victorious Yacht Australia II in the 25th America's Cup competition in 1983
  • September 18, 1993: Member of the America's Cup Hall of Fame for outstanding achievements in the America's Cup
  • July 14, 2000: Australian Sports Medal for outstanding success in the America's Cup
  • January 1, 2001: Centenary Medal for service to Australian society through sailing
  • 2016: Officer of the Order of Australia

literature

  • John Bertrand: Born to win: a lifelong struggle to capture the America's Cup (as told to Patrick Robinson). Sydney: Bantam Books, 1985, ISBN 0-553-05118-0 . also published by: New York: Hearst Marine Books, 1985.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sailing World: John Bertrand (AUS), Australia's America's Cup winning skipper (June 23, 2003) Retrieved February 15, 2009.
  2. ↑ AC-CLOPAEDIA - Australia II ( Memento from October 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: America's Cup Hall of Fame )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.herreshoff.org
  4. ↑ Sport Australia Hall of Fame website ( Memento March 17, 2008 on the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 30, 2009.
  5. ↑ America's Cup Hall of Fame.Retrieved August 6, 2009.
personal data
SURNAME Bertrand, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bertrand, John Edwin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian sailor
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne , Victoria