Chris Law (5 July 1952 – 24 July 2007) was a British sailor who was a winner of the

Finn Gold Cup The Finn Gold Cup is the premier competition in Finn Class sailboat racing. Organized by the International Sailing Federation, it decides the Finn World Championships and has been held every year since 1956. Finn is an Olympic class. Edition ...

in 1976. His talent was sometimes overshadowed by his bad luck and volatile temperament. He died by suicide at

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

in 2007.

Sailing career

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

Law started sailing, crewed by his younger brother Tim, in the Cadet dinghy on the Thames at Teddington. He came 4th in the Cadet World Championship in Spain in 1969 and 4th in the 1970 Cadet World Championship in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, Australia. He then moved on to the

Finn class The Finn dinghy is a single-handed, cat-rigged sailboat, and a former Olympic class for men's sailing. Since its debut at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, the Finn has featured in every summer Olympics, making it the longest serving dinghy ...

, where he narrowly missed Olympic qualification in 1972 and 1976. During this time his first daughter Charlotte was born. He won the Finn Gold Cup in 1976 at the age of 23, one of the youngest ever winners, and then became the father of his second daughter – Amy. He qualified for the Olympics in 1980 and then suffered the misfortune of being prevented from competing by the Moscow Olympic boycott. Law had been seen as a strong candidate for a medal. He sailed a Soling in the 1984 Olympics, coming 4th and again missing a medal. Law sailed in the 1983 and 1987

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

campaigns on the British challengers ''Victory'' and '' White Crusader''. He also sailed in the 1995 campaign in the Australian challenger ''Sydney '95'' before leaving after a dispute with the campaign management. During the 1990s he was a highly ranked match racer and won the 1994 Congressional Cup,. He also sailed in several

Admiral's Cup The Admiral's Cup was an international yachting regatta. For many years it was known as the unofficial world championship of offshore racing. The Admiral's Cup regatta was started in 1957 and was normally a biennial event (occurring in odd-numbe ...

campaigns, with varied success, including sailing in the infamous

1979 Fastnet race The 1979 Fastnet Race was the 28th Royal Ocean Racing Club's Fastnet Race, a yachting race held generally every two years since 1925 on a 605-mile course from Cowes direct to the Fastnet Rock and then to Plymouth via south of the Isles of Scil ...

. Possibly his most notorious Admiral's Cup campaign came in 1999 when he had a tempestuous time and was blamed for losing the Admiral's Cup for Britain. He announced his retirement from international representative sailing after that event. Law was a popular television commentator for the

2000 America's Cup The 30th America's Cup was won by Team New Zealand, who swept the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup winner Prada Challenge in all five races. It was the first America's Cup without an American challenger or defender. Races Crew Team New Zealand * Sail ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand and a successful competitor on the

World Match Racing Tour Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) features world class sailors including America’s Cup and Olympic champions, in a global championship series. WMRT is sanctioned with ‘Special Event Status’ by World Sailing, the sport� ...

, where he won 12 Category One events. World Match Racing Tour Obituary
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Chris 1952 births 2007 deaths Olympic sailors for Great Britain English male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Soling 1995 America's Cup sailors 1987 America's Cup sailors 1983 America's Cup sailors Finn class world champions World champions in sailing for Great Britain 2007 suicides Suicides in Germany