Syd Fischer, (born 4 March 1927 in Sydney) is an Australian businessman and property developer and

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. The profession of the ...

. Most noted for his sailing, Fischer is described as Australia's most successful offshore sailor. He has skippered numerous yachts, notably several named ''

Ragamuffin Ragamuffin or Raggamuffin may refer to: Film * '' The Ragamuffin'', a 1916 American silent film by William C. deMille * ''Ragamuffin'', a 2014 film directed by David Schultz about Rich Mullins Music * Raggamuffin music, or ragga, a reggae and d ...

'' and has competed in six

Admiral's Cup The Admiral's Cup was an international yachting regatta. For many years it was known as the unofficial world championship of offshore racing. The Admiral's Cup regatta was started in 1957 and was normally a biennial event (occurring in odd-numbe ...

teams representing his country. He has had wins including * World Championship

One Ton Cup The One Ton Cup is a trophy presented to the winner of a sailing competition created in 1899 by the Cercle de la voile de Paris (CVP). Synopsis The One Ton Cup regattas were at the beginning of races between one-tonner sailing dinghies, acco ...

in ''Stormy Petrel'' in New Zealand in 1971 * 1971

Fastnet Race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after the Fast ...

in ''

'' *

Line honours Line honours is the term given to the first boat to cross the finish line of a yacht race. This is in comparison to the handicap honours or corrected time winner, which is theoretically equally accessible to all boats as slower boats have a lower ...

in the 1988 and 1990

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 in ...

* Handicap honours in 1992

* 1980 Round State Race in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

Fischer shares a record of five challenges for 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 ...

, with Sir

Thomas Lipton Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet (10 May 18482 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 straight America's Cup ...

. He first challenged for the

1983 America's Cup The 1983 America's Cup was a 12-metre class yacht race which pitted the defending New York Yacht Club's ''Liberty'' against the Royal Perth Yacht Club's challenger, ''Australia II''. The September 1983 match race was won by ''Australia II'' ...

in ''

Advance Advance commonly refers to: *Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits * Advance payment for goods or services * Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty p ...

'', the year ''

Australia II ''Australia II'' (KA 6) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successful Cu ...

'' won. He led subsequent challenges in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

in ''

Steak'n'Kidney ''Steak and Kidney'' is a 12-metre class yacht that competed in the 1987 Defender Selection Series for the America's Cup.http://www.americas-cup-history.at/english/dss%2087.htm In 2004, ''Steak and Kidney'' and another 12-metre class yacht, ''A ...

'', and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

in ''

Challenge Australia Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, ...

''. He made his third and fourth attempts at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

and his fifth in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

In 1996 and 1998 he captained Australia's

Kenwood Cup Kenwood may refer to: Places ; England * Kenwood (or Ken Wood), a part of Hampstead Heath, London, the location of ** Kenwood House * Kenwood, in the parish of Kenton, Devon * Kenwood, St. George's Hill, John Lennon's home in Weybridge, Surrey ...

team. Yachting Achievements • OBE for Sporting Achievements in 1971 • NSW Sports Hall of Fame 2001 • Australian Yachtsman of the year 1971/72 and 1992/93 • Ocean Racer of the Year 1993, 1996 and 2002 • Award for Services to Yachting 2003/03 Major Ocean Racing Victories • Winner - World Championship One Ton Cup 1971 • Winner - Fastnet Race, England 1971 • Winner - Line Honours in Sydney-Hobart races 1988 and 1990 • Winner - Sydney-Hobart 1992 on handicap IOR division • Winner - Round State Race Hawaii 1980 Achievements • Captain of Australian Admiral's Cup in 1971, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1993, 1997 including the winning team in 1979 and competed in 1969 team • Captain of Australian Clipper cup Winning Team – Hawaii 1978 and 1980 • Winner - Top Point Score Trophy in Clipper Cup 1980 • Captain of Australian Kenwood Cup winning teams in Hawaii 1996 and 1998 • Captain of Australian and New south Wales Southern Cross Teams 1975, 1993, 1995 1997, 2004 • Competed in 42 Sydney/Hobart races • Winner - 9 Blue Water Championships Rugby League Also played first grade rugby league for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles playing 6 games between 1949 and 1952

Award and recognition

Fischer was named 1971 Australian Yachtsman of the Year and was Australian Ocean Racer of the Year in 1993, 1996 and 2002. He has been awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his sporting achievements and was inducted into the New South Wales Sports Hall of Fame in 2002–03. Fischer was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the

2017 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

. In 2018 Fischer was inducted to the

Australian Sailing Hall of Fame Australian Sailing Hall of Fame was established in 2017 by Australian Sailing in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Syd 1927 births Living people Australian male sailors (sport) Australian businesspeople 1987 America's Cup sailors 2000 America's Cup sailors 1995 America's Cup sailors 1992 America's Cup sailors 1983 America's Cup sailors Members of the Order of Australia