Paul Elvstrøm

Personal information
Nationality	danish
Born	(1928-02-25) February 25, 1928 (age 84) Copenhagen, Denmark
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Weight	85 kg (190 lb)
Sport
Country	Denmark
Sport	Sailing
Retired	1988
Medal record Men's sailing Competitor for  Denmark Olympic Games Gold London 1948 Firefly class Gold Helsinki 1952 Finn class Gold Melbourne 1956 Finn class Gold Rome 1960 Finn class World Championships Silver Burnham 1957 Finn class Gold La Baule-1957 505 class Gold La Baule-1958 505 class Gold Zeebrugge 1958 Finn class Gold Copenhagen 1959 Finn class Gold Porto Alegre 1959 Snipe class Gold St. Petersburg 1962 Flying Dutchman Gold Copenhagen 1966 5.5 metres class Gold Kiel 1966 Star class Gold Copenhagen 1967 Star class Gold Copenhagen 1999 Soling class Silver San Diego 1969 Star class Bronze New York 1971 Soling class Gold Sydney 1974 Soling class Bronze Travemünde 1985 Tornado class

Paul Bert Elvstrøm (born February 25, 1928 in Copenhagen) is a yachtsman from Denmark. He has won four gold medals at the Olympic Games and won world championships eleven times in eight different types of boat, including Snipe, Soling, Star, Flying Dutchman and Finn.

Biography[link]

He competed in eight Olympic Games from 1948 to 1988, being one of only three persons ever (the others are athletes Carl Lewis in the long jump and Al Oerter) in the discus to win four consecutive individual gold medals (1948, '52, '56, '60), first time in a Firefly, subsequently in Finns.^[1] In his last two Olympic games he sailed the very high performance Tornado Catamaran class, which is normally sailed by two fit young men, with his daughter Inge Trine Elvstrøm as forward hand.

Elvstrøm is also noted as a developer of sails and sailing equipment. One of his most successful innovations was a new type of self-bailer. The design is still in production under the Andersen brand and has been widely copied. The new features were a wedge shaped venturi that closes automatically if the boat grounds or hits an obstruction, and a flap that acts as a non return valve to minimise water coming in if the boat is stationary or moving too slowly for the device to work. Previous automatic bailers would be damaged or destroyed if they met an obstruction, and would let considerable amounts of water in if the boat was moving too slowly.

Elvstrøm was a very early innovator in training techniques. For example he used the technique of 'sitting out' or hiking using toe-straps to a greater degree than previously, getting all his body weight from the knees upwards outside the boat, thus providing extra leverage to enable the boat to remain level in stronger winds and hence go faster than his competitors. This technique required great strength and fitness, so Elvstrøm built a training bench with toe-straps in his garage to replicate the sitting-out position in his dinghy. He then proceeded to spend many training hours on dry land sitting out on the bench at home.

He also popularised the kicking strap, or boom vang (US). This may take the form of a block and tackle linking a low point on the mast (or an equivalent point on the hull) and the boom close to the mast, which allows the boom to be let out when reaching or running without lifting. This controls the twist of the mainsail from its foot to its head, increasing the sail's power and the boat's speed and controlability. Elvstrøm did not advertise his new invention, leaving his competitors mystified at his superior boat-speed. Investigation of his dinghy revealed nothing as he used to remove the kicking strap before coming ashore.

He established a manufacturing company whose products included masts, booms, and sails. He has also been instrumental in developing several international yacht racing rules.

Among the innovative concepts he has brought to sailboat racing is the concept of gates instead of a single windward or leeward mark in large regattas. The leeward gate on a windward-leeward course is commonly used. The windward gate less often used due to the difficulties in managing right-of-way around the right gate whose subtlies are understood mostly by match racers.^[2]

In 1996 Elvstrøm was chosen as "Danish Sportsman of the Century."^[3]

In 2007 Elvstrøm was among the first six inductees into the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing Hall of Fame.^[4]

Achievements[link]

Elvstrøm, in his career, wons medals at the world championships in eight kind of sailing classes: Finn, 505, Snipe, Flying Dutchman, 5.5 Metre, Star, Soling and Tornado.

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
1956	Finn World Championships	Burnham-on-Crouch	2nd	Finn	[5]
1957	505 World Championships	La Baule-Escoublac	1st	505	[6]
1958	505 World Championships	La Baule-Escoublac	1st	505	[6]
	Finn World Championships	Zeebrugge	1st	Finn	[5]
1959	Finn World Championships	Copenhagen	1st	Finn	[5]
	Snipe World Championships	Porto Alegre	1st	Snipe	[6]
1962	Flying Dutchman World Championships	St. Petersburg	1st	Flying Dutchman	[6]
1966	5.5 metres World Championships	Copenhagen	1st	5.5 metres
	Star World Championships	Kiel	1st	Star	[6]
1967	Star World Championships	Copenhagen	1st	Star	[6]
1969	Soling World Championships	Copenhagen	1st	Soling	[6]
	Star World Championships	San Diego	2nd	Star	[6]
1971	Soling World Championships	New York	3rd	Soling
1974	Soling World Championships	Sydney	1st	Soling	[6]
1985	Tornado World Championships	Travemünde	3rd	Tornado	[6]

Bibliography[link]

• Elvstrom, Paul. Expert Dinghy and Keelboat Racing, 1967, Times Books, ISBN 0-8129-0054-5
• Elvstrom, Paul. Elvström Speaks on Yacht Racing, 1970, One-Design & Offshore Yachtsman Magazine, ISBN 0-8129-0134-7
• Elvstrom, Paul. Elvström Speaks -- to His Sailing Friends on His Life and Racing Career, 1970, Nautical Publishing Company, ISBN 0-245-59851-0
• Paul Elvström Explains the Yacht Racing Rules, First edition 1969, title updated to Paul Elvstrom Explains the Racing Rules of Sailing: 2005-2008 Rules. Updated four-yearly in accordance with racing rules revisions, various authors and publishers. ISBN 0-07-145626-0

References[link]

See also[link]

• List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
• Most successful athletes at the World Championships

External links[link]

• Paul Elvstrøm results
• Paul Elvstrøm at Sports-Reference.com

Ben Ainslie in 2009.

Charles Benedict Ainslie, CBE (born 5 February 1977 in Macclesfield) is an English sailor and three-times Olympic gold medalist. He started sailing at the age of eight and first competed at the age of ten.^[1] Ben Ainslie's first international competition was the 1989 Optimist world championships held in Japan where he placed 37th.

Early life[link]

The son of Roderick 'Roddy' Ainslie, who captained a boat that took part in the first Whitbread Round The World Race in 1973. He learned to sail near Falmouth, Cornwall at Restronguet Creek.^[2] Ainslie attended Pennington Infant School, Peter Symonds College^[3] and Truro School in Cornwall.^[4]

Awards and honours[link]

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours after his success in Sydney, and was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours following the Athens Games.^[5][6] He was again promoted, to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours, following the Beijing Games.^[7]

He won the International Sailing Federation top Award more times than anyone else being named ISAF World Sailor of the Year in 1998, 2002 and 2008. He was also nominated 2004 and 2011.

He was awarded the title of British Yachtsman of the Year in 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

At the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships he was winning the regatta going into the closing stages of the regatta but was disqualified under rule 69 (gross misconduct) for physically threatening a photographer. Ainslie felt the photographer's boat wake had prevented him from passing a competitor.^[8]

On the 19th May 2012 he became the first person to carry the Olympic torch in the UK. Starting the 70 day tour of the United Kingdom at Land's End, he was the first of 8,000 torch carriers passing the flame to 18-year-old Cornish surfer Tassy Swallow. He stated "It's something I'll never forget. It was an amazing atmosphere. But it's back to reality tomorrow and training for the Olympics."^[9]

Sailing career[link]

Olympics[link]

Olympic medal record
Sailing
Competitor for  Great Britain
Gold	2008 Beijing	Finn
Gold	2004 Athens	Finn
Gold	2000 Sydney	Laser
Silver	1996 Atlanta	Laser

Ainslie won silver at the 1996 Olympic Games and gold in the 2000 Summer Olympics in the Laser class. He gained some 18 kilograms (40 lb; 2 st 12 lb) and moved to the larger Finn class for the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he won gold, a feat he repeated in the 2008 competition.

World Championship[link]

World Championships titles[link]

• 1st 1993 Laser Radial World Championships
• 1st 1995 IYRU Youth Sailing World Championships in Hamilton, Bermuda
• 1st 1998 Laser World Championships
• 1st 1999 Laser World Championships
• 1st 2002 Finn World Championships
• 1st 2003 ISAF Sailing World Championships which effectively is the Finn World Championships
• 1st 2004 Finn World Championships
• 1st 2005 Finn World Championships
• 1st 2008 Finn World Championships
• 1st 2010 ISAF Open Match Racing World Championship
• 1st 2012 Finn World Championships^[10]

Other world results[link]

37th 1989 Optimist World Championships held in Japan
2nd 1994 IYRU Youth Sailing World Championships in Marathon
43rd 1994 Laser World Championship
21st 1995 Laser World Championship
3rd 1996 Laser World Championship
3rd 1997 Laser World Championship
3rd 2000 Laser World Championship
3rd 2009 Etchells World Championships
11th 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships which effectively is the Finn World Championship

Other signifcant results[link]

4th 2010 - Team Origin - TP52 Audi Medcup
1st 1993 Laser Radial European Championship, Greece

America's Cup[link]

• 1st Team - One World Challenge - Seattle Yacht Club

• 2nd Team - Team New Zealand - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

At the beginning of 2005 he worked in the role of Tactician in the New Zealand based Team New Zealand who were preparing to compete in the challenger selection process to win the right to Challenge for the 32nd America's Cup.

In May 2005 Ainslie took the decision to relinquish the role of tactician and focus on improving his Match Racing skills as helmsman of the 'B' boat used to practice and tune the race boat helmed by Dean Barker.

• 3rd Team - Team Origin - Royal Thames Yacht Club

Ainslie figureheaded a British challenge for the Cup alongside Sir Keith Mills the team was named Team Origin. However this challenge withdraw without competing following a period of discussion regarding the future format of the event.

• 4th Team - Ben Ainslie Racing - Royal Cornwall Yacht Club

On the 10th January 2012 Ben Ainslie Racing was formally announced figured headed by Ben with the support of Grant Simmers. It will compete in the remaining AC45 America's Cup World Series events. The team was underwritten by the American defender Oracle Racing, to whom he has close links. The team aim is to help prepare the defender for competition and to hopefully provide the building blocks for a British challenge to the 35th America's Cup.^[11]

World Match Racing Tour[link]

In December 2010, Ainslie finished in first place in the World Match Racing Tour, and is the 2010 ISAF Match Racing Champion.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ben's Web Site
• Biography, British Olympic Team
• ISAF Sailor Biog
• Interview for TF90M