Ed Baird
Baird with the America's Cup in Geneva, Switzerland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Phillip Edward Baird | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1958-05-17) May 17, 1958 (age 66) St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sailing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | University of South Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Phillip Edward "Ed" Baird (born May 17, 1958) is an American sailor. He was a coach of the 1995 America's Cup-winning Team New Zealand and a helmsman for the 2007 America's Cup-winning Alinghi syndicate.[1]
Growing up in Florida, Baird raced in the Optimist class at junior level, before moving onto other dinghies. He won the World Laser Championships in 1980 and the World J/24 Championships in 1983.[1][2]
Coaching career
Baird joined Team New Zealand as a coach for the 1995 America's Cup, guiding the syndicate to New Zealand's first ever Cup win. In the same year, he won the World Match Racing Championships,[2] and was named the US's Yachtsman of the Year.[3]
In 1999, he skippered Young America in the Louis Vuitton series to determine the challenger for the following year's America's Cup, but the syndicate's challenge faltered when one of its two yachts nearly sank in a race against a Japanese team.[4]
Racing highlights
Baird has also ventured into open water racing, having competed in round the world races in 1997–98 (for Innovation Kvaerner) and 2001–02 (for Djuice Dragons).[2] As part of these offshore racing challenges, Baird was a member of the winning team in the grueling, Sydney to Hobart Race in 2000, aboard the maxi yacht, Nicorette II.[5]
As the helmsman of the Alinghi team for the 2007 America's Cup, he led the syndicate to win the series 5-2 against his former team, Team New Zealand.[6] Later in 2007, he was named the International Sailing Federation's male World Sailor of the Year.[3]
Winning 4 of 5 events, Baird skippered Alinghi’s Extreme 40 to a dominant win on the iShares Extreme-40 Catamaran Circuit in 2008. He then coached team owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, who helmed the massive catamaran, Alinghi 5 in the 2010 America's Cup.
From 2011 to 2016, Baird skippered the US-flagged, Quantum Racing TP 52 to win four seasons of the Audi MedCup/52 Super Series and three TP 52 World Championships.[7] Baird currently races on international circuits for the TP 52 and RC 44 .[8]
While best known as a champion match racer and fleet racing helmsman, Baird has also coached world and Olympic champions such as Anna Tunnicliffe, Sally Barkow and Kevin Mahaney. He was a premier instructor for North-U’s Tactical and speed clinics in the 1990s, and he has written an instructional book (Laser Racing) and over a hundred tactical how-to articles. Baird has worked with ESPN, Outdoor Life Network, Versus, and Television New Zealand as an expert commentator for shows about sailboat racing.
Baird was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2016,[9] and he was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 2021.[10]
References
- ^ a b "A Great Week and a Great Year for Ed Baird". sailworld.com. July 13, 2007. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Ed Baird". 32nd America's Cup: official website. Retrieved April 23, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "Claire LEROY And Ed BAIRD Enter The Select Circle". International Sailing Federation. November 7, 2007. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ McFadden, Suzanne (November 10, 1999). "Baird crew overboard as wave hits challenge". The Independent. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ Lulham, Amanda, and James Breshnehan. "Sweden Smell of Success." Hobart Mercury, 29 December 2000
- ^ Engeler, Eliane (July 8, 2007). "Swiss celebrate return of America's Cup winner Alinghi". USA Today. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ "Transpac 52 class - Quantum Racing". Archived from the original on May 20, 2014.
- ^ OC Thirdpole. "» Teams » RC Forty Four". rc44.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
- ^ "Phillip Edward Baird 2016 Inductee". Nshof.org. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
- ^ "America's Cup Hall of Fame will induct Peter Montgomery and ed Baird in 2021".
External links
- Ed Baird at World Sailing
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- 1971 Dane, LeBlanc, Cerise
- 1972 Goldsmith
- 1973 Canada Fogh
- 1974 Melges
- 1975 Kolius
- 1976 Melges
- 1977 Curtis
- 1978 Curtis
- 1979 Haines
- 1980 Baird
- 1981 Canada Fogh
- 1982 Canada Fogh
- 1983 Curtis
- 1984 Haines
- 1985 Canada Fogh
- 1986 Canada Fogh
- 1987 Kostecki
- 1988 Kostecki
- 1989 Canada Abbott, Jr., M. Abbott, Beatty
- 1990 Canada Fogh
- 1991 Mahaney
- 1992 Mahaney
- 1993 Not completed
- 1994 Klein
- 1995 Madrigali
- 1996 Madrigali
- 2001 J. Hoeksema, Wolf, R. Hoeksema
- 2002 Cohan, Buttner, Gladchin
- 2003 Walker
- 2004 Wareham, Vance, Brackett
- 2005 Galloway, Steinborn, Anthony
- 2006 Canada P. Hall, Karrigan, Deacon
- 2007 Canada P. Hall, Parekh, Parsons
- 2008 Canada Fogh, Cheer, Findlater
- 2010 Canada Fogh, Fich, Devries
- 2011 Gallaway, Proctor, Ewing
- 2012 Canada Fogh, Fich, Devries
- 2013 Canada P. Hall, Lacey, W. Hall
- 2014 Canada P. Hall, Parsons, W. Hall
- 2015 Canada P. Hall, Lacey, W. Hall
- 2016 Canada P. Hall, Lacey, W. Hall
- 2017 Germany Dietzel, Zeileis, Ramoser
- 2018 Canada P. Hall, Lacey, W. Hall
- 2019 Canada P. Hall, Scott McNeil, W. Hall