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 Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cup in ...

and a

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fishing vessels and yacht ...

for the

2007 America's Cup The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and ''Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift o ...

-winning

Alinghi Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well as ...

syndicate. Growing up in Florida, Baird raced in the Optimist class at junior level, before moving onto other dinghies. He won the World

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

Championships in 1980 and the World J/24 Championships in 1983.

Coaching career

Baird joined

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, and was named the US's Yachtsman of the Year. 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.

Racing highlights

Baird has also ventured into open water racing, having competed in round the world races in 1997–98 (for ''

Innovation Kvaerner ''Innovation Kvaerner'' (also known as ''Atea'') is a yacht. She finished fourth in the 1997–98 Whitbread Round the World Race skippered by Knut Frostad. Career ''Innovation Kvaerner'' was designed by Bruce Farr Bruce Kenneth Farr (born 1 ...

'') and 2001–02 (for ''

Djuice Dragons ''Djuice Dragons'' is a Norwegian Volvo Ocean 60 yacht. She competed in the 2001–02 Volvo Ocean Race and finished sixth, skippered by Knut Frostad Knut Mauritz Frostad (born 4 June 1967 in Harstad, Norway) is a Norwegian yachtsman, who has p ...

''). 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 ''Nicorette II'' is a sailing yacht built in 1999 in South Africa. The yacht was designed by Simonis & Voogd. She won line honours in the 2000 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race skippered by Ludde Ingvall Ludvig "Ludde" Ingvall (born 8 January 1956) ...

''. As the

of the

team for the

, he led the syndicate to win the series 5-2 against his former team,

. Later in 2007, he was named the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

's male World Sailor of the Year. Winning 4 of 5 events, Baird skippered Alinghi’s

Extreme 40 The Extreme 40 is a class of sailing catamaran created by TornadoSport and designed by Yves Loday. The boats are 40 feet long and are constructed out of carbon fibre. They have a top speed of about and can sail at about in 20–25 knots of wind ...

to a dominant win on the iShares Extreme-40 Catamaran Circuit in 2008. He then coached team owner,

Ernesto Bertarelli Ernesto Silvio Maurizio Bertarelli (born 22 September 1965) is an Italian-born Swiss billionaire businessman and philanthropist. The 2017 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List estimated the family's wealth at £11.5 billion, an increase of £1 ...

, who helmed the massive catamaran,

Alinghi 5 ''Alinghi 5'' is a ( LWL), beam sloop-rigged catamaran built by Alinghi for the 33rd America's Cup. The boat was launched on 8 July 2009 when the hull was lifted from the construction shed in Villeneuve, Vaud by a Mil Mi-26 helicopter and ...

in the 2010 America's Cup. From 2011 to 2016, Baird skippered the US-flagged, Quantum Racing

TP 52 The Transpac 52 (TP52) is a class of yacht used for competitive 52 Super Series yacht racing, and the Audi MedCup previously, besides the world championship of the class. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation which entit ...

to win four seasons of the

Audi MedCup The Audi MedCup was a sailing competition which began in 2005 and turned into the world’s leading regatta circuit. The event was last held in 2011. It was sailed in the TP 52 and Soto 40 classes (previously the GP42 class in 2009–2010). ...

/52 Super Series and three TP 52 World Championships. Baird currently races on international circuits for the TP 52 and RC 44 . While best known as a champion match racer and fleet racing helmsman, Baird has also coached world and Olympic champions such as

Anna Tunnicliffe Anna Tunnicliffe Tobias (born October 17, 1982) is an American sailor and CrossFit competitor. In 2008 she won an Olympic gold medal in the Laser Radial single handed sailing class. In 2009 and 2011, she won the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Laser ...

, Sally Barkow and

Kevin Mahaney Kevin P. Mahaney (born March 31, 1962, in Bangor, Maine) is an American commercial real estate developer as well as a former competitive sailor who won a silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Education Mahane ...

. 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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Outdoor Life Network OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) is a Canadian English-language Category A specialty channel. OLN primarily broadcasts factual-based and adventure-related reality programming aimed at male audiences. OLN is wholly owned by Rogers Sports & ...

, Versus, and

Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solom ...

as an expert commentator for shows about sailboat racing. Baird was inducted into the

National Sailing Hall of Fame The National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating i ...

in 2016, and he was inducted into the

America's Cup Hall of Fame The America's Cup Hall of Fame, located at the Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup sailing competition. Candidates eligible for consideration include skippers, ...

in 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Ed 1958 births Living people 2000 America's Cup sailors 2007 America's Cup sailors Alinghi sailors American male sailors (sport) Circumnavigators of the globe Extreme Sailing Series sailors ISAF World Sailor of the Year (male) Laser class sailors Laser class world champions Luna Rossa Challenge sailors North American Champions Soling Team New Zealand sailors TP52 class world champions US Sailor of the Year Volvo Ocean Race sailors World champions in sailing for the United States University of South Florida alumni South Florida Bulls athletes