Jonathan Bruce Harris (born 31 October 1955) is an Australian blue-water sailor who began his sailing career when he was about ten. He won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Personal

Harris was born on 31 October 1955. He lost his hand as a result of a chemical explosion when he was sixteen. , he lives in Oatley, New South Wales, and owns an

IT company A technology company (or tech company) is an electronics-based technology, technological company, including, for example, business relating to digital electronics, software, and internet-related services, such as e-commerce services. Details Accor ...

. He also skis and cycles.

Sailing

Harris is a sailor and has been a member of the Cronulla Sailing Club since he was very young. He is coached by the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

-based Grant Alderson. , he had a sailing scholarship with the

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high performance sports training institute located in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides world leading coaching, performance support and daily training ...

. Harris started sailing when he was about ten years old. He has twice (1983, 1985) competed in the

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 ...

, a distance of just over 1,170 km. He first represented Australia in 2002 at the World Championships in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in the Sonar class. He competed with Colin Harrison and Stephen Churm for the first time at the 2012

International Association for Disabled Sailing The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) was an affiliate member of the International Sailing Federation and was responsible for coordinating the paralympic sailing competition with the International Paralympic Committee. The organi ...

(IFDS) World Championships in the Sonar event, where the team finished fourth. On the last day of competition, he and his crew dealt with a wind speed of 10-15

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

. At the 2012 Dutch-hosted World Cup, Harris and his teammates finished third over all in the Sonar Paralympic class. They had been at fourth following the first day of competition. His team at the 2012 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, finished fifth overall following the fourth day of competition. He was selected to represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in sailing. It was his first Paralympic selection. He did not medal. At the 2013

IFDS The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) was an affiliate member of the International Sailing Federation and was responsible for coordinating the paralympic sailing competition with the International Paralympic Committee. The orga ...

World Championships in

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...

, Ireland, he teamed with

Russell Boaden Russell Boaden (born 15 December 1969) is a Paralympic sailor from Australia. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and a won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Personal Boaden was born ...

and Colin Harrison to win the bronze medal in the Sonar Class. In October 2013, the trio were named

Yachting Australia Australian Sailing is recognised by World Sailing as the governing body for the sport of sailing in Australia. It formed in 1950 as the Australian Yachting Federation at a meeting at the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club. It is responsible for the ad ...

's Sailors of the Year with a Disability. At the 2014 IFDS World Championships in Halifax, Canada, Harris teamed with Harrison and Boaden to win the bronze medal in the Sonar Class. In November 2014, Harris shared the

Sailor of the Year with a Disability award with Daniel Fitzgibbon,

Liesl Tesch Liesl Dorothy Tesch AM (born 17 May 1969) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Gosford since the 2017 Gosford state by-el ...

, Colin Harrison,

and Matthew Bugg. The Australian team of six sailors beat Great Britain by one point at the IFDS World Championship. At the 2015 IFDS Championships in

, he teamed with Boaden and Harrison to win the silver medal behind the Great Britain crew. Their score was 37.0 to Great Britain's 36.0. Harris, Boaden and Harrison won the bronze medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar class at the 2016 World Championships held in

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...

, Netherlands. They went on to win the gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar class at

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

. During the event they had three first placings and four second placings. He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2017.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jonathan 1955 births Living people Australian male sailors (sport) Paralympic sailors for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in sailing Sailors at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics New South Wales Institute of Sport alumni Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Place of birth missing (living people)