Rodney Stuart Pattisson, MBE (born 5 August 1943) is a British yachtsman. He is a double Olympic gold medalist in sailing won at the

1968 Mexico City Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

and

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

both in the

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' () is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India C ...

class. He also won a silver medal at the

1976 Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

in the same class to become

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

’s most successful Olympic

yachtsman A yacht () is a sail- or motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a ...

until

Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British sailing (sport), competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at four ...

overtook him with 3 gold medals and a silver medal at four different Olympic Games at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. Pattisson was a member of

Itchenor Sailing Club Itchenor Sailing Club is a sailing club located in Chichester Harbour which was founded in 1927. History West Itchenor is situated on the prevailing wind's windward shore, in a well-protected position in the harbour. Unlike Bosham, Dell Quay and ...

Sailing career

Pattisson was born in

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port. The 2018 populatio ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

, Scotland, where his father was posted as an airman during World War II. His family left Scotland just two months after Rodney's birth, and he has never lived in Scotland since then.Pattison doesn't consider himself to be ethnically "Scottish." However, with his consent, he was inducted into the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

in 2002. However, he found it made it hard to convince people of his true nationality and requested to be withdrawn. His example is still said to have been an important inspiration for successful Scottish sailors. He went to school at

Pangbourne College Pangbourne College is a mixed-sex education, coeducational Public school (UK), public school (private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school), for pupils aged 13-18 years, in Pangbourne, Berkshire, England. It is set in 230 acres ...

, which was founded in 1917 as the Nautical College Pangbourne. The College prepared boys to be officers in the Merchant Navy although many students joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, a tradition he followed on leaving the college. He later teamed up with the London

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

Iain MacDonald-Smith Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponds to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. This name is a popu ...

and won the 1968 Olympic trials. They travelled to Mexico two months before the start of the Olympics in order to acclimatise themselves to the local conditions. In 1968 Pattisson and MacDonald-Smith won the gold medal in the Flying Dutchman class in the Olympic Games on their boat ''

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" () is a song and single from the 1964 Disney musical film ''Mary Poppins''. It was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It also appears in the 2004 stage show version ...

'', which was shortened by race officials to ''Superdocious''. Notes from the race indicate that its dominating length of lead mirrored the length of name. The boat is now in the collection of the

National Maritime Museum Cornwall The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall (NMMC) is located in a harbourside building at Falmouth in Cornwall, England. The building was designed by architect M. J. Long, following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competition ...

. At the time it was noted that in winning the gold, Pattisson became the first "Scot" to win an Olympic medal in sailing. Both Pattisson and MacDonald-Smith went on to win the FD (Flying Dutchman) World Championship in 1969 and 1970. After his Olympic victory in 1968, Pattisson resigned his commission in the

so as to give himself more time for training. As Lieutenant Rodney Stuart Pattisson, he was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

1969 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1969 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

for his services to

yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...

.United Kingdom list: He won another World Championship in 1971, but this time it was with Julian Brooke-Houghton. A second Olympic gold medal followed in 1972 with Christopher Davies and in 1976 Pattisson took the silver medal again with Julian Brooke-Houghton. Pattisson was honoured by being the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Pattisson then retired from the Olympics and later co-skippered the ''Victory 83'', the

Peter de Savary Peter John de Savary (11 July 1944 – 30 October 2022) was a British businessman in shipping, oil and property. He once owned or managed 13 shipyards around the globe and had global oil-trading and refuelling businesses. He was the Chairman of ...

entry in the America's Cup in 1983. He was later elected to the Sailing Hall of Fame and

. He later asked to be withdrawn from the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 as he does not consider himself Scottish.

Published works

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Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pattisson, Rodney 1943 births Living people 1983 America's Cup sailors British male sailors (sport) English male sailors (sport) English Olympic competitors Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in sailing Olympic sailors for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Sailors at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman Sailors at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman Sailors at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Flying Dutchman class world champions World champions in sailing for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Pangbourne College People from Campbeltown Royal Navy officers Sportspeople from Argyll and Bute