Christopher John "Chris" Nicholson (born 18 June 1969) is an Australian

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who has competed in multiple

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

and

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

s and has won six World championships.

Sailing career

In 1992, Chris and his brother

Darren Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

won the

505 Year 505 ( DV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodorus and Sabinianus (or, less frequently, year 1258 '' Ab urb ...

World Championships in Santa Cruz. The pair also won the 1994 World Championships in Durban and the 2002 World Championships in Fremantle. Nicholson then started competing in the 49er class with Daniel Phillips. Nicholson and Phillips won the 1997

Kiel Week The Kiel Week (german: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the largest sailing event in Europe, and also one of the largest Volksfeste in Germany, attracting ...

event and then won the 1997 49er World Championships in Perth. Nicholson defended the title twice, winning the 1998 event in Bandol together before Nicholson won the 1999 event in Melbourne with Ed Smyth. Nicholson and Phillips then won the 2000 European Championships. Nicholson represented

Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics Australia was the host nation for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 617 competitors, 341 men and 276 women, took part in 270 events in 34 sports. Medalists Archery Australi ...

, sailing a 49er with Phillips and placing sixth in the competition. He then competed in his first

, sailing in the 2001–02 event as a watch captain on '' Amer Sports One''. Nicholson again represented Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics, sailing in the 49er class with Gary Boyd. They placed seventh in the event. He then returned to the Volvo Ocean Race, sailing with ''

Movistar Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar+) in Spain. Movistar is ...

'' in 2005–06 and then with ''Il Mostro'' in 2008–09. In 2009, Nicholson returned to compete in the 505 World Championships, placing third with Casey Smith. For the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, Nicholson skippered ''

Camper Lifelovers ''Camper Lifelovers'' is a Volvo Open 70 yacht. She finished second in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race skippered by Chris Nicholson. Career The Emirates Team New Zealand design team joined with Camper sports company of Spain to develop and ...

'', placing second. He was the skipper of ''

Team Vestas Wind ''Turn the Tide on Plastic'' is a Volvo Ocean 65 yacht. As ''Team Vestas Wind'', she finished seventh in the 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race skippered by Chris Nicholson. Following the race, the boat was refitted for the 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race a ...

'', which was a late entry for the 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race. On 30 November 2014, during a night navigation, Team Vestas Wind grounded on a coral atoll of

St. Brandon It is highly likely that the name Saint Brandon was derived from the French sailors and corsairs that sailed to and from Britanny, after a town called Saint-Brandan. It has since been Anglicised to Saint Brandon and is also known as the Cargad ...

. Team Vestas Wind was able to rejoin the race for the final two legs. He then competed in the 2016

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...

on ''

Perpetual LOYAL ''Perpetual LOYAL'' is a maxi yacht. She won the 2016 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race skippered by Tom Slingsby Tom Slingsby (born 5 September 1984) is a successful Australian competitive sailor. Slingsby's first successes came sailing Laser ...

''. In 2017 he is a crew member of the

Team AkzoNobel ''team AkzoNobel'' is a Volvo Ocean 65 yacht. She was the only new yacht built for the 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race. 2017-18 crew * Simeon Tienpont - skipper *Jules Salter - navigator * Chris Nicholson * Peter van Niekerk *Brad Farrand *António ...

in 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race starting from the leg 2.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Chris 1969 births Living people Australian male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors of Australia Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – 49er Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – 49er Volvo Ocean Race sailors Team New Zealand sailors