Roderick Hopkins Davis (born August 27, 1955 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

) is a former competitive sailor who won Olympic medals for two countries. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, representing the

, he won the gold medal in the

Soling The Soling is an open keelboat that holds the World Sailing " International class" status. The class was used from the 1972 Olympics (Kiel) until the 2000 Olympics (Sydney) as " Open Three Person Keelboat". Besides the Olympic career of the So ...

class along with Robert Haines and

Edward Trevelyan Edward Norman Trevelyan (born August 14, 1955) is an American sailor and Olympic champion. Trevelyan, a member of a team that also included skipper Bob Haines and Rod Davis, received a gold medal in the '' Soling class'' at the 1984 Summer O ...

. After moving to New Zealand he was chosen to represent that country at the next three

Olympic Games 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 multi ...

. Along with Don Cowie he won a silver medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in the Star class. Davis and Cowie finished fifth at the 1996 Summer Olympics in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

and were also fifth in the

class at Sydney along with 3rd crewman Alan Smith. Davis began his involvement with 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 ...

in 1977, sailing with

Lowell North Lowell Orton North (December 2, 1929 – June 2, 2019) was an American sailor and Olympic gold medalist. He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where he received a gold medal in the Star class with the boat ''North Star'', toge ...

on ''Enterprise'' during the

1977 America's Cup The 1977 America's Cup was held in September 1977 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, '' Courageous'', skippered by Ted Turner, defeated the Australian challenger, '' Australia'', skippered by Noel Robins, in a four-race sweep. ''Courageou ...

defense trials. For the

1987 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2nd Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1987. The winner, Stars & Stripes, went on to challenge for and win the 1987 America's Cup. Teams Twelve syndicates from six countries (Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand ...

, assisted the Consorzio Italia syndicate until he was appointed skipper of the American Eagle Foundation challenge, representing the

Newport Harbor Yacht Club Newport Harbor Yacht Club is a yacht club located on the Balboa Peninsula, which is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. Facilities The Newport Harbor Yacht Club facility has a main dining room and outdoor ...

. He joined

New Zealand Challenge New Zealand Challenge was a sailing team funded by Michael Fay that challenged for the America's Cup three times between 1987 and 1992. New Zealand Challenge was the first team from New Zealand to enter the competition. 1987: KZ 7 ''Kiwi Magic' ...

for the

1988 America's Cup The 1988 America's Cup was the 27th America's Cup regatta, and was contested between the defender, San Diego Yacht Club represented by ''Stars & Stripes H3'', and the challenger, the Mercury Bay Boating Club represented by New Zealand Challeng ...

and was their helmsman at the

1992 America's Cup The 28th America's Cup was contested between the winner of the 1992 Citizen Cup defender selection series, America³, and the winner of the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series, Il Moro di Venezia. It was the first edition of the ...

. He was the backup helmsman for ''

oneAustralia ''oneAustralia'' was an International America's Cup Class racing yacht owned by a syndicate of the same name and headed by John Bertrand, the former skipper of the America's Cup-winning Australia II. Prior to its entry in the 1995 America's Cup, ...

'' at the

1995 Louis Vuitton Cup The 4th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in San Diego, United States in 1995. The winner, Team New Zealand, went on to challenge for and win the 1995 America's Cup. The teams Originally ten challengers from seven nations submitted bids to compete for t ...

and acted as the sailing coach of

Prada Challenge Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the Louis Vuitton Cup on their first attempt in 2000, but ...

at the

2000 Louis Vuitton Cup The 5th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2000. The winner, Prada Challenge, went on to challenge for the 2000 America's Cup. It was the first time in the competition's history that there would not be an American challenger ...

. He remained with Prada Challenge for the

2003 Louis Vuitton Cup The 6th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2003. The winner, Alinghi, went on to challenge for and win the 2003 America's Cup. The teams The Yacht Club Punta Ala was the challenger of record. Alinghi Founded by Swiss busi ...

, and sailed in the afterguard. He joined

Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cup i ...

as a coach for 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, ...

, and remained in this position for the

2013 Louis Vuitton Cup The 8th Louis Vuitton Cup was held during July and August 2013, in San Francisco, California, United States of America. The three contenders were Artemis Racing (Sweden), Emirates Team New Zealand (New Zealand), and Luna Rossa Challenge (Italy ...

. In 2014 he joined

Artemis Racing Artemis Racing is a professional sailing team founded in 2006 by businessman and sailor Torbjörn Törnqvist, named after Artemis, the ancient Greek goddess. Timeline * 2007: won the MedCup circuit, then called Breitling Medcup, and the TP52 ...

. He re-joined Team New Zealand in 2016 and was part of their successful

2017 America's Cup The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June ...

campaign.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Rod 1955 births Living people 1977 America's Cup sailors 1980 America's Cup sailors 1983 America's Cup sailors 1987 America's Cup sailors 1988 America's Cup sailors 1992 America's Cup sailors 1995 America's Cup sailors 2003 America's Cup sailors American male sailors (sport) Artemis Racing sailors Luna Rossa Challenge sailors Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics New Zealand male sailors (sport) Olympic gold medalists for the United States in sailing Olympic sailors of New Zealand Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Sailors at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Soling Sailors at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Star Sailors at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Star Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Soling Team New Zealand sailors Soling class world champions