Christopher Stuart Dickson (born 3 November 1961) is a sailor from New Zealand. He was world youth champion three years in succession and later became world match race champion three times. He also skippered several yachts in

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 ...

racing, and for New Zealand at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and in numerous other sailing competitions. As skipper of ''

Tokio Tokio may refer to: * , the capital of Japan, used primarily in non-English-speaking countries may also refer to: Music * Tokio (band), a Japanese pop/rock band ** ''Tokio'' (album), their debut album * Tokio Hotel, a German rock band * Toki ...

'' he looked set to win the W60 class in the 1993–94 Whitbread Round the World Race until the boat was dismasted in the fifth leg. He also skippered Larry Ellison's 78 foot maxi yacht ''Sayonara'' to line honours in the 1998

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 ...

and in four world championship regattas.

Early life

Dickson was born in Auckland on 3 November 1961, the son of Marilyn and Roy Dickson. He was educated at Westlake Boys' High School, and went on to study at the University of Auckland.

Career

Early sailing career

Dickson sailed from an early age, starting out in the Sabot and P Class boats, before graduating to Lasers and

470s The 470s decade ran from January 1, 470, to December 31, 479. Significant people References {{Reflist ...

. In 1977 he won both the Tanner Cup and Tauranga Cup for P Class events with a perfect zero points score in both. These events were subsequently won by other noted New Zealand skippers, Russell Coutts (1978) and Dean Barker (1988). By the time he turned 15 he had won every regatta possible, from match racing between clubs to provincial and national championships.

Youth world champion

The year after his Tanner-Tauranga cups double, Dickson won the first of his three

ISAF Youth World Championships The ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships was first held in Sweden in 1971 and it has been held every year since. It is one of the key events of the federation to help promote top-level youth participation. Editions Equipment Gender Guide ...

, with David McKay in the 420 at Perth, Western Australia. He won again the following year in the 420 at

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, Italy with his high school class mate Hamish Wilcox, and again the following year (1980) at

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, Texas in the Laser 11 with Sean Reeves.

Olympic Games

Dickson was selected in the New Zealand team as reserve for the 1980 summer Olympics in Russia. At the

2000 Olympic Games 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 ...

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 ...

, Dickson and crewmate Glen Sowry sailed well in the Tornado

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

but finished fifth overall after recording two results outside the top 10, (fifteenth in Race 4 and twelfth in Race 12).

America's Cup

Dickson appeared on the

scene in 1987 when he was skipper of New Zealand’s first America's Cup challenge KZ 7 in the

1987 America's Cup The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-sixth challenge for the America's Cup. The American challenger '' Stars & Stripes 87'', sailed by Dennis Conner, beat the Australian defender '' Kookaburra III'', sailed by Iain Murray, in a four-race swee ...

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. He was beaten that year by the eventual winner Dennis Conner and ''

Stars & Stripes 87 ''Stars & Stripes 87'' (US 55) was the 12 Meter challenge boat sailed by Dennis Conner in his bid to reclaim the America’s Cup from the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Australia in 1987. Design and development ''Stars & Stripes 87'' was built in ...

'' in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final after winning 33 of 34 races in the round-robin phases and sweeping ''French Kiss'' 4–0 in the semi-finals. In the

1987 Queen's Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

, Dickson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to yachting. Since 1987, Dickson has been prominent in the international sailing world, particularly around the America's Cup. * 1987: skipper of ''Kiwi Magic'' (KZ 7), challenger entrant, finished second in the Louis Vuitton Cup * 1992: skipper of ''Nippon'' (JPN 26), challenger entrant, finished third in the Louis Vuitton Cup * 1995: Owner and skipper of ''Tag Heuer'' (NZL 39), challenger entrant, finished third in the Louis Vuitton Cup * 2003: skipper of Oracle BMW Racing (USA 76), challenger entrant, finished second in the Louis Vuitton Cup * 2006/2007: CEO and skipper of BMW Oracle Racing, challenger of record 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 o ...

The 2007 America's Cup was a bad experience for Dickson, who by this time had become one of the highest paid sailors in the world. He resigned his position as CEO of BMW Oracle Racing because of a devastating 1–5 loss in the

2007 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, ...

at the hands of semi-finals opponent Luna Rossa Challenge. Luna Rossa's helmsman James Spithill dominated the veteran Dickson in all the pre-starts. In race 5, Dickson incurred two penalties during the pre-start and was ordered to stand down for race 6. Five days later, Dickson resigned from the team, saying it was time for him to "step aside" and for the team "to move on". Software billionaire Larry Ellison, the owner of the BMW Oracle team, subsequently officially announced his intentions to launch a challenge for the

33rd 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 even ...

Current sailing

After a two-year absence from racing, Dickson returned to competitive sailing in 2009 as helmsman of ''Vincitore'', finishing 1st in class and 1st overall at the IRC San Francisco Big Boat Series. He also acted as tactician on ''Full Metal Jacket'' in the China Sea Regatta (Hong Kong), finishing in second place. He continued to act as tactician on ''Full Metal Jacket'' at the Kings Cup (Phuket), finishing in fourth place and then was skipper in the New Zealand Match Racing Championships competing with a youth crew and finishing third.

Family life

Dickson has two children. They live in Auckland.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Chris 1961 births Living people New Zealand male sailors (sport) Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race People educated at Westlake Boys High School Oracle Racing sailors Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Tornado New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Volvo Ocean Race sailors 2007 America's Cup sailors 2003 America's Cup sailors 1995 America's Cup sailors 1992 America's Cup sailors 1987 America's Cup sailors Olympic sailors of New Zealand