Earle Leonard Wells (27 October 1933 – 1 October 2021) was an Olympic gold medallist for New Zealand in yachting. With

Helmer Pedersen Helmer Orlaf Leif Pedersen (28 March 1930 in Copenhagen, Denmark – 24 August 1987) was an Olympic gold medallist for New Zealand in yachting. With Earle Wells, Pedersen won the Flying Dutchman class at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Pede ...

, Wells won the Flying Dutchman

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Wells was born in

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 ...

in October 1933. He was also a rower, and his coxed four narrowly missed selection for the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

. He later raced in the

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

class before taking up ocean racing and competed in 5

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 ...

s. He helmed '' Condor''. Wells and Pedersen were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. Wells died on 1 October 2021, at the age of 87.

References

External links

* * * * 1933 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Auckland New Zealand male sailors (sport) Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in sailing Sailors at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics New Zealand male rowers {{NewZealand-yachtracing-bio-stub