Ian James Walker (born 25 February 1970 in
Worcester,
Worcestershire) is one of
Britain's most successful sailors, with two Olympic silver medals to his name. He is a member of Northampton Sailing Club and Warsash Sailing Club.
Olympics
At the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
, Walker received the silver medal in the
470 class
The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork is ...
along with his sailing partner,
John Merricks.
["1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States – Sailing"]
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved 17 April 2009) At the
1996 470-European-Sailing-Championship he won with his Partner
John Merricks the bronze medal. On 15 October 1997, both Walker and Merricks were passengers in a minivan in Italy when the driver lost control, and Merricks was killed.
Wallechinsky, David
David Wallechinsky (born David Wallace, February 5, 1948) is an American populist historian and television commentator, the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the founder and editor-in-chief of AllGov.com and ...
(2004). ''The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics'', Toronto: Sport Classic Books.
In 1999, Walker began sailing with
Mark Covell
Mark Covell (born 7 November 1968) is a Scottish competitive sailor and Olympic medalist. He won a silver medal in the Star class at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the ...
.
At the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Walker and Covell won the silver medal in the
Star class.
["2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Sailing"]
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved 17 April 2009)
Walker also coached
Shirley Robertson
Shirley Ann Robertson, OBE DL (born 15 July 1968) is a British sailor and Olympic gold medallist. She made it into the history books by becoming the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal at consecutive games, Sydney 2 ...
and her
Yngling Team to gold at the
2004 Athens Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
.
America Cup
When Britain launched its first bid for the
America’s Cup for 14 years in 2000, Walker was named as the skipper. Then, in the 2007
America’s Cup he joined fellow Olympic medallist
Iain Percy
Iain Bryden Percy (born 21 March 1976) is an English sailor and double Olympic champion for Great Britain.
Olympics
Percy competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he won a gold medal in the Finn class. as the tactician of the Italian team
+39 Challenge
+39 Challenge was a yacht racing team established in 2004 that competed for the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007, the challenger series held prior to the America's Cup. The teams was based at the Yacht club "Circolo Vela Gargnano" in Gargnano, Italy, and w ...
. His
America’s Cup commitments were combined with the highly successful
TP52
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 ...
campaign as skipper of 'Patches', owned by
Eamon Conneely Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to:
*Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name
*Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist
* ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II
*"Éamon ...
.
Volvo Ocean Race
2008/09 Race
In 2008/09 he was the skipper of the Green Dragon boat in the
Volvo Ocean Race.,
the boat finished fifth in this race out of eight competitors.
2011/12 Race
In 2011/12 Walker skippered Abu Dhabi's first entry in the
Volvo Ocean Race – Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Overall the team finished fifth out of the six competitors.
2014/15 Race
Ian was appointed as Skipper of
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
's next entry into the
Volvo Ocean Race, sailing the new VO65 class. He successfully lead the team to victory, securing an insurmountable point lead over the other teams on the second to last leg.
During this race the team also won the in-port race series
and set a 24-hour distance record of 550.82 nautical miles while approaching
Cape Horn.
Records held
* Fastest circumnavigation – Isle of Wight – 2 hours 21 minutes (Foncia) August 2012. Ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council
* Fastnet Monohull Race record – 42hrs 39min, (Volvo Open 70 Abu Dhabi) in August 2011
References
External links
*
Green Dragon Racing TeamInterview with Ian Walker, Green Dragon skipper, May 2009Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 2011-12
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Ian
1970 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Worcester, England
English male sailors (sport)
Olympic sailors of Great Britain
Sailors at the 1996 Summer Olympics – 470
Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Star
Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
Olympic medalists in sailing
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
2007 America's Cup sailors
2003 America's Cup sailors
2000 America's Cup sailors
Volvo Ocean Race sailors
International 14 world champions
World champions in sailing for Great Britain