John Edwin Bertrand AO (born 20 December 1946) is a yachtsman from

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 ...

, who skippered ''

Australia II ''Australia II'' (KA 6) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successful ...

'' to victory in the 1983

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

, ending 132 years of American supremacy, and the only time Australia has won. Bertrand won the bronze medal in the

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competition at the

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in Montreal. In 2010 and 2016, he won the world Etchells class sailing championships. He is a life member of both the Royal Brighton Yacht Club in Melbourne, and the Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club.

Biography

John Bertrand was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He wrote ''Born to Win'', ''The Power of a Vision,'' about the 1983 America's Cup victory, including insightful observations on the strategy for an unfavoured team against very long odds. During the 1983 competition, Bertrand and his crew deliberately employed their own psychological strategy ahead of the America's Cup breakthrough in refusing to refer to the all-conquering American team by their names and instead calling their opposition simply "the red boat" in order to mislead the rival. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Mack Horton, an Australian freestyle swimming champion, admitted the criticism towards another swimmer Sun Yang was a deliberate strategy to try and gain a mental edge on his rival, borrowing from the tactics employed by Bertrand in the lead-up to Australia II's famous triumph in 1983. Bertrand is the chairman of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (2005+) and

The Alannah and Madeline Foundation The Alannah & Madeline Foundation is a national Australian charity which was launched on 30 April 1997."Our History"

(2001+). He is also the President of

Swimming Australia Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...

(Oct 2013+).

Honours

* 26 January 1984: Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of service to yachting, particularly as skipper of the ''Australia II'' in the America's Cup challenge 1983. * 10 December 1985: Induction into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame * 18 September 1993: Member of the America's Cup Hall of Fame for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup. * 14 July 2000: Australian Sports Medal for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup and general contribution * 1 January 2001:

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

for service to Australian society through the sport of Sailing. * 2008 Melburnian of the Year for community leadership. * 25 October 2013: Awarded an Honorary Doctorate, Victoria University. * 10 October 2014: Elevated to Legend of The Sport Australia Hall of Fame. * 2014: Bertrand was made a Monash University Vice Chancellor Professorial Fellow. *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

: Upgraded to

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO), the

2016 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

list. In recognition for sporting administration, in particular swimming and sailing, children's welfare, higher education and mentoring of young people.

Personal

* Bertrand has a Bachelor of Engineering ( Monash University 1970) and a Master of Science ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1972). * He has been married, since 1969, to Rasa Bertrand, whom he met as a student.

Notes

References

* ::Sydney : Bantam Books, circa 1985. * * !-- https://web.archive.org/web/20211028204251/https://herreshoff.org/inductees/john-bertrand/ -->https://herreshoff.org/inductees/john-bertrand/ America's Cup Hall of Fame biography*

External links

* * * * * Untold
The Race of the Century
Netflix {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertrand, John 1946 births Living people Etchells class world champions World champions in sailing for Australia 1970 America's Cup sailors 1974 America's Cup sailors 1977 America's Cup sailors 1980 America's Cup sailors 1983 America's Cup sailors 1995 America's Cup sailors Australian Champions Soling Australian male sailors (sport) Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Members of the Order of Australia Monash University alumni Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in sailing Olympic sailors of Australia Sailors at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Finn Sailors at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Finn Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Melbourne