Michael Mackay McIntyre MBE (born 29 June 1956) is a British

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

, who was the Olympic champion in the

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

class event at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul. He also competed at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles, and won multiple British Finn class championships. In 1989, McIntyre was awarded an MBE for services to yachting.

Career

At the age of 12, McIntyre was a Scottish schools swimming champion. He was a member of

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

and

Bosham Bosham () is a coastal village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, centred about west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. ...

Sailing Clubs. McIntyre won the British Finn class Championships in 1980, 1981, and 1984. McIntyre competed at the

in Los Angeles, finishing seventh in the Finn class. McIntyre competed at the

in Seoul and won a gold medal in the

class, together with Bryn Vaile. McIntyre was the skipper of the team, and the pair had been in fourth place going into the final race. The pair won the event after the American pair of Mark Reynolds and

Hal Haenel Hal H. Haenel (born October 18, 1958 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American sailor and Olympic Champion. He competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and won a gold medal in the Star class with Mark Reynolds. He received a silver medal ...

had to retire in the final race due to a broken

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

; the Canadian team who were ahead of the Britons also retired from the race, due to a damaged

backstay A backstay is a piece of standing rigging on a sailing vessel that runs from the mast to either its transom or rear quarter, counteracting the forestay and jib. It is an important sail trim control and has a direct effect on the shape of the ma ...

. It was the first Olympic Star class medal by a British team since

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, when Colin Ratsey and Peter Jaffe finished second in the event. McIntyre retired from sailing after the 1988 Olympics. In 2012, McIntyre made a one-off return to sailing for an event at the

Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is a centre for the sport of sailing on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. The academy building is located in Osprey Quay on the northern tip of the island, and the wat ...

on the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

course. His race was ended by a collision with another yacht.

Personal life

McIntyre was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and his father was a

veterinary surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on non-human animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/u ...

. He grew up in

Shandon, Argyll Shandon is a village on the open sea loch of the Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Shandon overlooks the Rosneath Peninsula to the west and is bordered by Glen Fruin () to the east, which is the site of the Battle of Glen Fruin, one of t ...

, and attended Hermitage Academy, and later the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. McIntyre later lived in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, England, where he worked in

sales management Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as Sales (accounting), net sales, through the sa ...

. Despite living in England, McIntyre is an honorary president of Helensburgh Sailing Club in Scotland, and he is also a lifetime honorary member of the

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island, later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st cent ...

Sailing Club. McIntyre was appointed MBE in the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, for services to yachting. McIntyre is married, and has multiple children. His daughter Eilidh is a former sailor, who won a gold medal in the

470 __NOTOC__ Year 470 ( CDLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Iordanes (or, less frequently, year 1223 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

event at the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Michael British male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Finn Sailors at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Star Olympic sailors for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Scottish Olympic competitors 1956 births Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Sailors (sport) from Glasgow Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Alumni of the University of Glasgow People educated at Hermitage Academy