Rob Mundle OAM is an Australian yachtsman, maritime commentator and author. He is the author of some 19 books, six of which have become best sellers, including ''Captain James Cook: from Sailor to Legend''; ''Fatal Storm: The 54th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race''; ''Bligh: Master Mariner''; and ''Flinders: The Man Who Mapped Australia.'' Since publishing those biographies Mundle is regarded as a contemporary authority on

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

, William Bligh and Mathew Flinders. Mundle began sailing as a boy. After finishing school he became a cadet journalist at ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' newspaper, which led to a career as a noted nautical commentator in print, radio and television and to him becoming known as 'the voice of sailing'. Since the 1980s he has covered the

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 ...

, sailing in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and the

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 ...

, on which he is regarded as an authority. Mundle is credited with introducing the

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" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

and J24 class boats into Australia. From 2011 to 2013 he was Commodore of Southport Yacht Club. In 2000 Mundle was award the Australian Sports Medal for services to sailing in the media; and in 2013 was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services to sailing and to journalism.

Selected bibliography

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References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian writers Maritime writers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian maritime historians {{Australia-yachtracing-bio-stub