Sir William Herbert Northam,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(28 September 1905 – 2 September 1988) was an Australian Olympic yachtsman and businessman. Born in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

, Devon on 28 September 1905, Northam had a successful career in business before becoming an Olympian. He was simultaneously chairman of the Australian branches of two major companies: American

pharmaceutical company The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate sympto ...

Johnson & Johnson, and British sports equipment brand

Slazenger Slazenger () is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group (formerly Sports Direct). The company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by Ralph and Albert Slazenger on London's Cannon Street.J. R. Lowerson, 'Slazen ...

.William Northam
,

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

, 10 December 1985.

Sailing career

Northam took up the sport of sailing late in life, at the age of 46, after taking the helm of a neighbour's boat near his waterfront home on Sydney's

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the en ...

, and comparing the feeling to that of car racing. He purchased a number of boats over the next few years: his first, ''Gymea'', which ran into the starter's boat in her first race; the eight-metre yacht ''Saskia'', with which he won the prestigious Sayonara Cup for the

Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron is a yacht club located in North Sydney, Australia in the suburb of Kirribilli. The squadron was founded in 1862. It has occupied its grounds in East Kirribilli, near Kirribilli House, since 1902. History The ...

in 1955 and 1956; and ''Caprice of Huon'', which came 9th in the 1963 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. He was also a crew member on '' Gretel'',

Sir Frank Packer Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer (3 December 19061 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family. Early life Frank Packer was born in K ...

's challenger in the 1963 America's Cup.

1964 Olympic Games

In 1963, Northam set himself the challenge of competing in the Olympic Games. He travelled to the United States, where he arranged for naval architect Bill Luders Jr. to design and build him a yacht, which was named ''Barrenjoey'' after the Barrenjoey Head Lighthouse near Northam's Sydney home. With fellow ''Gretel'' yachtsmen Peter 'Pod' O'Donnell and James Sargeant, both more than 30 years younger than him, Northam took ''Barrenjoey'' to a successful run of the 1964 Australian titles, the Olympic trials and further challenge races, until the team qualified for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, despite misgivings about Northam's age, now 59. Northam marched in the opening ceremony with his son Rod, who was a reserve member of the rowing team. The Australian team competed in the 5.5 metre class, starting well with wins in the first, fourth and sixth races, although they were disqualified in the fifth. Northam's main rival, the yacht ''Bingo'' skippered by American author John J. McNamara won the second and third races, and McNamara would have taken the gold medal if ''Bingo'' won the final race and ''Barrenjoey'' finished fifth or worse. In a fierce race for first place against Swedish boat ''Rush VII'', McNamara was disqualified, and Northam and his crew finished fourth, qualifying them for the gold medal. It was Australia's first Olympic gold for sailing, and Northam remains the oldest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal. Northam was cremated and his ashes interred at Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Sydney.

Honours

*1965: Father of the Year *1 January 1966:

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

*31 December 1976:

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

for services to the community *1978: AOC Olympic Merit *1985 - inaugural inductee

*2017 - inaugural inductee Australian Sailing Hall of Fame

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Northam, Bill 1905 births 1988 deaths Australian male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors of Australia Sailors at the 1964 Summer Olympics – 5.5 Metre Olympic gold medalists for Australia Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1962 America's Cup sailors Olympic medalists in sailing English emigrants to Australia Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian people