John Forbes (sailor)
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 January 1970 |
| Sport | |
| Country |
 Australia
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Medal record
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John Forbes (born 29 January 1970) is an Australian sailor. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.
John Forbes was introduced to catamaran sailing on an international level at the age of 12. He and father Bob went to the USA to compete in the 1982 Nacra 5.2 North American Championships where they placed fourth. The following year John and Bob attended the inaugural Nacra 5.2 World Championship where they came second, and John then travelled to Monterey Bay where, with fellow Australian David Renouf, they finished 4th place in the Nacra 5.8 North American Championship.
After this "deep-end dunking" as a crew John took over the helm of various types of catamarans and with brother Rod on a Nacra 5.2 won the 1985 Australian Combined High Schools Championship outright, winning a couple of the races in the series on handicap/yardstick as well as outright. John, with Rod as crew, also came 3rd in the 1985 Nacra NSW State Championship, 1st in the 1986 Nacra NSW State Championship, 2nd in the Prindle 18 National Championship and 4th in the Nacra Australian Championship.
John's first introduction to the International Tornado Class was at the 1986/87 Australian Championship in Perth where, whilst only 16 he helmed his first Tornado catamaran and placed 10th amongst a star-studded fleet including Multi Olympic Gold Medallist Poul Elvstrom, “the Great Dane”.
John's youthful success and versatility, together with his accumulated competitive experience on different sized catamarans, resulted in him being approached by 1984 Olympic Bronze Medallist Chris Cairns, who asked John to sail with him. Together they won the 1987 Kiel Week Regatta followed by a second place in the 1987 Tornado Class World Championship.
In 1989 John teamed up with Hobie legend Rod Waterhouse to win the Australian Tornado Championship with a perfect score winning all 8 heats. Rod Waterhouse's inability to travel overseas in 1989 led John to join up with longtime sailing rival Mitch Booth, and together they won the 1989 World Championship (Houston, Texas) by an astounding 36 points from their good friend Giorgio Zuccoli from Italy. They also won the 1990 and 1991 Australian Tornado Championships.
A role reversal in 1991 saw John again taking over the helm to win the inaugural Nacra 5.8 World Championship (Harvey Bay, Queensland). Mitch and John's credits also include winning the `92, `93 & `94 Tornado Australian Championships and in 1992 they won their second Tornado World Championship (Perth, Australia).
Gold and Silver medals were also won in the 1990 and 1991 Barcelona Pre-Olympic Games respectively, and the pair were rewarded when they won a Bronze Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. As a result, they were jointly awarded the prestigious New South Wales Yachtsman of the Year trophy in November 1991 and again in 1992. As a final toast they were honoured, again jointly, with the distinguished award - as 1992 Ampol Australian Yachtsman of the Year.
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