Iain Bryden Percy OBE (born 21 March 1976) is an English sailor and double Olympic champion for Great Britain.

Iain Percy
OBE
Personal information
Full nameIain Bryden Percy
Born (1976-03-21) 21 March 1976 (age 48)
Southampton, United Kingdom
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportMen's sailing
ClubHayling Island Sailing Club
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Finn class
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Star class
Silver medal – second place 2012 London Star class
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Chicago Farr 40 class
Gold medal – first place 2010 Rio de Janeiro Star class
Gold medal – first place 2002 Los Angeles Star class
Silver medal – second place 2012 Hyères Star class
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Cascais Star class
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Buenos Aires Star class
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Gaeta Star class
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Cádiz Star class
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Star class
Gold medal – first place 2009 Kiel Star class

Olympics edit

 
Percy and Andrew Simpson competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Percy competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he won a gold medal in the Finn class.[1] He memorably received his gold medal at a ceremony on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

He competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and finished 6th in the double-handed Star class with Steve Mitchell. The same team received a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2005 European Championships.[2]

Percy won World Bronze in the Star class with Andrew Simpson in 2007 and European Championship Gold in 2009.[3] The duo won Gold in the same class of boat at the 2010 World Championships which took place in Brazil. With previous partner, Steve Mitchell, Percy won the 2002 Star World Championship in Los Angeles, and medalled in the next three world championships, winning the bronze medal in each of them.

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing he again won a gold medal, this time in the Star class, teaming up with Andrew Simpson.[4]

At the 2012 Olympics in London he and Andrew Simpson won the silver medal, after a tight race against Swedish duo Fredrik Lööf and Max Salminen.

Percy is a member of Hayling Island Sailing Club and sails there regularly.

America's Cup edit

In 2005, Percy decided to take a break from full-time Olympic Class sailing and join America's Cup challenger +39 Challenge as helmsman. Due to limited funding, +39 only managed ninth place in the Louis Vuitton Cup. Iain then joined Great Britain's TEAMORIGIN competing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas (Nice, Auckland, La Maddalena) and on the TP52 circuit, prior to stepping onboard Artemis Racing for the Louis Vuitton Trophy – Dubai.

Percy has been with Artemis Racing since then and was Sailing Team Director for the Challenger of Record for the 35th America's Cup. Since 2017 he has been CEO of Artemis Technologies.[5][6]

Awards edit

Percy was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2005, as a recognition of his Olympic gold medal.[2] He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ Profile: "Iain Percy" Archived 10 October 2012 at the Wayback MachinedatabaseOlympics.com (Retrieved 31 December 2007)
  2. ^ a b "Iain Percy MBE" Archived 25 February 2010 at the Wayback MachineBritish Olympic Association (Retrieved 21 March 2008)
  3. ^ "Iain Percy Sailing Greats" Archived 10 July 2018 at the Wayback Machineolympics30.com (Retrieved 11 February 2012)
  4. ^ "GB sailors take Star gold medal". BBC. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  5. ^ "Former Tory minister criticised for new job at firm she lobbied for". The Guardian. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Our Team". Artemis Technologies. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  7. ^ "No. 58929". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2008. p. 11.

External links edit