John Bertrand

1946 –

At Montreal 1976, two of Australia's five medals (one silver and four bronzes) were won by the sailors. Many experts including Rolly Tasker, a silver medallist at Melbourne 1956, had identified John Bertrand's sailing skills when he was a young teenager. Bertrand finished a close fourth in the Finns at Munich 1972 and improved one place at Montreal 1976. He had high hopes in the Soling class at Moscow 1980 but the Australian sailors had honoured the US-led boycott of those Olympic Games. After competing in a number of America's Cup campaigns, Bertrand gained great fame when he skippered the wing-keeled Australia II in its successful challenge for the America’s Cup in 1983.