TOP 50 GREATEST LIVING SAILORS
Being asked to pick the top 50 greatest living sailors is a poisoned chalice of a task. How do you measure and compare the exploits of our heroes when they compete across such vastly different parts of the sport? From the masters of short-course racing such as we see in the Olympic Games, through the inshore scene and to the offshore adventurers who set out to achieve sailing’s equivalent of a moonshot, it’s a case of trying to compare apples with oranges.
Nonetheless, we start on the opposite page with those sailors who have excelled in the America’s Cup, which traditionally has been the pinnacle of performance sailing.
Over the page we move onto other areas of the sport and those sailors who have made a particular impact, before finally considering those multi-talented sailors who have spanned the America’s Cup, Olympic and offshore sailing, the unofficial Holy Trinity of achievements that no one has yet quite achieved, although Pete Burling and Blair Tuke came mighty close at the conclusion of the last Volvo Ocean Race, losing out by a matter of minutes.
AMERICA’S CUP LEGENDS
DENNIS CONNER
Dennis Conner (USA) won the America’s Cup three times, successfully defending the Cup in 1980 and 1988 and winning as the challenger in Fremantle 1987. Of course he famously lost it to Australia II in 1983, but Conner’s ‘no excuse to lose’ approach was integral to the creation of the modern professional sailor. Conner also won a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics and two Star World Championships.
JOHN BERTRAND
John Bertrand (AUS) skippered Australia II to victory over Dennis Conner and Liberty in the 1983 America’s Cup, ending 132 years of American supremacy. Bertrand won the Finn bronze medal at the 1976 Games. He won the Etchells 22 World Championships in 2010 and 2016, the second title coming at the age of 70.
JIMMY SPITHILL
As skipper of Oracle Team USA in 2013, even at 1-8 down in the series Jimmy Spithill (AUS) always believed he could win the America’s Cup against Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand. Spithill’s self-belief was critical in creating one of sport’s greatest comebacks. He was also the man at the wheel of Oracle’s 2010 Deed of Gift match victory over Alinghi and now is part of Luna Rossa’s campaign for the 2021 Cup.
OTHER CUP LEGENDS
Of the many others who deserve a place in the list are the passionate billionaires who have been instrumental in creating and nurturing the modern era of the America’s Cup. Swiss pharmaceutical billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli created Alinghi and in 2003 won the Cup at his first attempt (below), whilst on board the winning boat as navigator. Founder of the Oracle software company, Larry Ellison (right) enjoyed a successful offshore career that included line honours victory in the Sydney Hobart Race before committing himself to and eventually winning the America’s Cup in 2010. Ellison has since committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the growth of
