Phillip Edward "Ed" Baird (born May 17, 1958) is an American sailor. He was a coach of the

1995 America's Cup The 29th America's Cup was contested between the winner of the 1995 Citizen Cup, Stars & Stripes (America's Cup syndicate), Team Stars & Stripes, which switched to the yacht Young America (1994 yacht), ''Young America'' (USA 36) for the competit ...

-winning

Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a Sailing (sport), sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates (airline), Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competiti ...

and a

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

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 ...

-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 ...

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'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

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

Coaching career

Baird joined

as a coach for the

, 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'') and 2001–02 (for '' Djuice Dragons''). 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''. 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 to a dominant win on the iShares Extreme-40 Catamaran Circuit in 2008. He then coached team owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, who helmed the massive catamaran,

Alinghi 5 ''Alinghi 5'' is a (waterline length, LWL), beam sloop-rigged catamaran built by Alinghi for the America's Cup (33rd edition), 33rd America's Cup. The boat was launched on 8 July 2009 when the hull was lifted from the construction shed in Vi ...

in the

2010 America's Cup The 33rd America's Cup between Société Nautique de Genève defending with team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, and their racing team BMW Oracle Racing was the subject of extensive court action and litigation, surpassing in acrimony ev ...

. From 2011 to 2016, Baird skippered the US-flagged, Quantum Racing TP 52 to win four seasons of the Audi MedCup/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, Sally Barkow and Kevin Mahaney. 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 (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, Outdoor Life Network, Versus, and

Television New Zealand Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, TVNZ+, streaming service, and 1N ...

as an expert commentator for shows about sailboat racing. Baird was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame 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 Soling class sailors Team New Zealand sailors TP 52 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 20th-century American sportsmen