Ian's Story
Ian Warwick Brown emerged as one of Australia’s leading young dinghy sailors during the early 1970s. He achieved international success in the Moth class before turning his attention to Olympic competition in the two-person 470 dinghy.
At Montreal 1976, Brown was the skipper and Ian Ruff his crew. The Australians won one race during the seven-race series and finished with 57 points, placing behind the West German and Spanish crews to claim the bronze medal. Brown was 22, and the result was one of only five medals won by Australia at the Games. Fellow sailor John Bertrand also secured bronze in the Finn class.
Brown was selected for the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games in the Flying Dutchman class alongside Glenn Bourke. Although the Australian Olympic team attended the Games, the Australian yachting authorities supported the United States-led boycott and withdrew their sailors. Brown and Bourke therefore did not compete.
Brown continued his involvement in Australia’s Olympic sailing program after Moscow. He was selected as a reserve sailor for Los Angeles 1984 before moving into coaching, serving with the Australian team at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. He became head coach for Sydney 2000, where Australia enjoyed its most successful Olympic sailing campaign to that point. The team won gold medals in the men’s and women’s 470 classes, silver in the Tornado and bronze in the Laser.
