Jörg Bruder

Jörg Bruder

Personal information
Born	November 16, 1937 São Paulo, Brazil
Died	July 11, 1973 (aged 35) Longjumeau, France
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Sport	Sailing
Medal record Representing  Brazil Pan American Games 1967 Winnipeg Finn 1971 Cali Finn Finn Gold Cup 1966 La Baule Singles 1968 Whitestable Singles 1969 Hamilton Singles 1970 Cascais Singles 1971 Toronto Singles 1972 Anzio Singles Star World Championships 1972 Caracas Doubles Star European Championships 1970 Sandhamn Doubles

Jörg Bruder (16 November 1937 – 11 July 1973) was a Brazilian sailor and geology professor at the University of São Paulo. Born in São Paulo, he became the first three-time Finn Gold Cup champion. Bruder died in 1973 in Orly, Paris, on Varig Flight 820 to Paris, when travelling to the Finn Gold Cup.^[1]

During the 2003 Finn Gold Cup in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Olympic Committee presented the International Finn Association with a trophy honoring Bruder. The IFA has since used the Jörg Bruder Silver Cup to award Junior World Champions of the class.^[2]

Biography

Known for a successful sailing career, he participated in the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and was a two-time winner at the Pan American Games. Bruder developed wooden masts with lighter weight and special curves, later developing aluminium masts, which were used by many Finn sailors around the world.

Bruder placed seventh in the 1964 Olympics Finn competition, which was followed by a ninth place in 1968 Olympics. He then changed to the Star class teaming with Jan Aten^[1] to sail "Buho Blanco" (BL 5217), a wooden boat purchased in Mexico. They won the 7th District & Brazilian Star Championship qualifiers in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics. In July, they were 1972 Kiel Week champions, sailing against a 60 other boats.^[1]

At the Olympic competition in Kiel, the weak winds dominated the early days. Then the Munich massacre interrupted the sequence of races. Entering the final regatta with medal chances, Bruder and Aten finished in fourth place overall.

In the 1972 Olympics, sailed in Kiel, the great Brazilian Finn sailor Joerg Bruder competed in the Star Class. On the way out of the harbor, Bruder and his crew Jan Aten snagged a shroud on a piling and brought the rig down on their heads. They brought the boat back to the dock, brought down a spare mast, stepped it, rigged it and sailed out to win that day's race.

— Dick Enersen, Restepping a Mast During a Regatta^[3]

References