Torben Schmidt Grael (born 22 July 1960) is one of the most well known Brazilian sailors, renowned in international competitions. A descendant of Danes, he was taken sailing by his grandfather at the age of five years on the sailboat Aileen, of the 6 Metre class, which was the boat used by the silver medal-winning 1912 Summer Olympics Danish sailing team. Once he moved to Niterói, he started sailing with his brother, Lars Grael, also an Olympic medal winner, on the Bay of Guanabara. Another brother, Axel Grael, is the current mayor of Niterói. He is father of Olympic champion Martine Grael and sailor Marco Grael.
 Grael in 2003 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Torben Schmidt Grael |
| Nickname | Turbine |
| Nationality |  Brazilian |
| Born | 22 July 1960 São Paulo, SP, Brazil |
| Sailing career | |
| Class(es) | Soling, Star |
| Club | Rio Yacht Club |
Medal record | |
Record
editNicknamed Turbine for his fame in conducting sailboats, he collected five Olympic medals, four of them in the Star class.
He is the Brazilian with the highest number of Olympic medals, and holds the highest number of Olympic medals in sailing together with Ben Ainslie and Robert Scheidt with five, followed by Paul Elvstrøm with four. He also placed first place in many World, South American and Brazilian championships in several categories. His first-mate is usually Marcelo Ferreira.
Grael has also sailed in other international competitions including the 2005–06 Volvo Ocean Race as skipper of the Brasil 1 team, the first 100% Brazilian outfit to enter the competition, which finished third overall. He would win the next Ocean Race, but this time as the skipper of the Swedish team Ericsson 4 (he won the race with two legs to spare). In October 2008 the yacht Ericsson 4 officially travelled 596.6 nautical miles in 24 hours, establishing a 24-hour monohull record. Skipper Torben Grael and his crew made the record on the first leg of the 2008–2009 Volvo Ocean Race. They sailed Ericsson 4 hard as a strong cold front hit the fleet, bringing winds approaching 40 knots, and propelling the yacht at an average speed of 24.8 knots.
He has sailed in several America's Cup races, including the winning campaign in Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 and the 2007 event as tactician aboard Luna Rossa Challenge[1]
Results – Dinghy Sailing
editInternational
edit| Year | Event | Venue | Class | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | World Championships | San Diego, CA, U.S. | Snipe Jr. | 1st |
| 1980 | Sailing Olympic Week | Cork, Ireland | Soling | 1st |
| 1981 | North-American Championship | Sarnia, Ontario, Canada | Soling | 1st |
| 1983 | IX Pan American Games | Caracas, Venezuela | Soling | 1st |
| World Championships | Porto, Portugal | Snipe | 1st | |
| 1984 | Sailing Olympic Week | Sanremo, Italy | Soling | 1st |
| Mediterranean Championship | Sanremo, Italy | Soling | 1st | |
| XXIII Olympic Games | Los Angeles, U.S. | Soling | 2nd | |
| 1985 | World Championships | Sarnia, Ontario, Canada | Soling | 2nd |
| 1987 | X Pan American Games | Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | Soling | 3rd |
| World Championships | La Rochelle, France | Snipe | 1st | |
| 1988 | XXIV Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | Star | 3rd |
| 1989 | European Championship | Travemünde, Lübeck, SH, Germany | Star | 1st |
| World Championships | Karatsu, Saga, Japan | Snipe | 2nd | |
| 1990 | World Championships | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | Star | 1st |
| European Championship | Lake Balaton, Hungary | Star | 1st | |
| Sailing Olympic Week | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | Star | 1st | |
| 1991 | World Championships | Cannes, France | Star | 2nd |
| World Championships | Newport, Wales, United Kingdom | One Ton | 2nd | |
| World Championships | Porto Carras, Greece | 3⁄4 Ton | 3rd | |
| European Championship | Palermo, Italy | Star | 1st | |
| 1996 | XXVI Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | Star | 1st |
| 2000 | XXVII Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | Star | 3rd |
| 2004 | XXVIII Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | Star | 1st |
References
edit- ^ "TORBEN GRAEL - Titles & Awards". Torben-Grael.com.
- ^ "Resultados". Torben-Grael.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 19 August 2006.
- ^ "Torben Grael". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Torben Grael". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
External links
edit- Official website
- Volvo Ocean Race at the Wayback Machine (archived 26 December 2009)
- Torben Grael at World Sailing
- Torben Grael at Olympics.com
- Torben Grael at Olympic.org (archived)
- Torben Grael at Olympedia
- Torben Grael at the Comitê Olímpico do Brasil (in Portuguese)
