Wikipedia

Pelle Petterson

Pelle Helmer Petterson (born 31 July 1932) is a Swedish sailor and yacht designer. Petterson has won two Olympic medals, four world championship titles, challenged for the America's Cup and designed several sailboats, including Maxi 77.

Pelle Petterson
Pelle Petterson in June 2010
Personal information
Full namePelle Helmer Petterson
Born (1932-07-31) 31 July 1932 (age 93)
Stockholm, Sweden
Sport
Sailing career
Class(es)Star, Soling, 6 Metre, 12 Metre
ClubKattegattflottiljen
Medal record
Sailing
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place1972 MunichStar class
Bronze medal – third place1964 TokyoStar class
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1969 San DiegoStar class
Gold medal – first place1977 Marstrand6 Metre class
Gold medal – first place1979 Seattle6 Metre class
Gold medal – first place1983 Newport6 Metre class
Silver medal – second place1969 CopenhagenSoling
Silver medal – second place1974 LaredoStar class

Biography

edit

Early life

edit

Pelle Petterson was born in Stockholm, Sweden on 31 July 1932[1] to Helmer Petterson and Norwegian-born Borgny Petterson (born Holm). His father was also a designer who developed wood gas aggregates and Volvo PV444, strongly influencing his son to go in his footsteps. In his youth, Petterson built gravity racers and sailed in the Stjärnbåt class.[2]

Design career

edit
A Maxi 77, designed by Petterson
Monark 606s, designed by Petterson
A Volvo P1800, designed by Petterson

Petterson studied at the Pratt Institute in New York from 1955 to 1957.[3] He designed the 12 mR yacht Sverige, 17 6 mR yachts, and worked with Maxi, Nimbus and Monark Crescent.[4] The Maxi series comprise about 30 designs, among them the Maxi 77.[2] He has also designed the sailboats Monark 606 and C 55.[5] In 2003, he designed the Swedish Match 40 for match racing events.[6]

He also designed Volvo's successful sports car, the P1800, while he was a student of Pietro Frua.[7]

Sailing career

edit

Competing in the Star class, Petterson won a bronze in 1964 together with Holger Sundström.[8] He held the world title in this event in 1969, when he won the 1969 Star World Championship in San Diego together with Ulf Schröder.[3]

In 1972, Petterson was back at the Olympics, again competing in the Star class, this time winning a silver medal.[8] Petterson, along with Stellan Westerdahl, led the regatta after five races, but struggles in the sixth race made David Forbes of Australia winning the gold.[1]

With money from the Maxi 77 design, and sponsored by SCA, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and Volvo, Petterson challenged for the America's Cup two times.[2] With the yacht Sverige, Pettersons team competed in the 1977 Herbert Pell Cup and 1980 Herbert Pell Cup, advancing to the final in the 1977 edition.[1]

In Sweden, Pettersson represented Kattegatflottiljen in Gothenburg.[1]

Personal life

edit
Petterson in the 1960s

Pelle Petterson married Irene and has three children.[2] One of them, Cecilia, designs a sailing clothing and sports wear bearing the name Petterson, under the brand name Pelle P.. His other daughter, Ulrika "Icka", lives in the U.S. and is married to Paul Cayard, an American yachtsman and professional sailor.

Since 1975, Pelle Petterson and Irene are residing in Kullavik.[9]

Awards

edit

Petterson was the first person to be inducted into the Swedish Sailing Hall of Fame.[1] On 14 May 2004 he received the Swedish Business Award for Outstanding Achievements of the first grade from the West Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Among previous recipients are Arvid Carlsson Nobel laureate, Ingvar Kamprad founder of Ikea and Pehr G. Gyllenhammar former CEO of Volvo.

On 19 November 2004 he received the KTH's Stora Pris from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.[10]

On 8 June 2010 Petterson received from Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden the King's Medal (12th size bright-blue ribbon[11]) for outstanding contributions as a yachtsman and boat designer.

Achievements

edit
As of 27 September 2015[12]
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEvent
1964Olympic GamesEnoshima, Japan3rdStar class
1966Star World ChampionshipKiel, West Germany7thStar class
1967Star World ChampionshipCopenhagen, Denmark5thStar class
1969Star World ChampionshipSan Diego, USA1stStar class
Soling World ChampionshipCopenhagen, DEN2ndSoling
1970Star World ChampionshipMarstrand, Sweden13thStar class
1971Star World ChampionshipPuget Sound, USA7thStar class
1972Star World ChampionshipCaracas, Venezuela4thStar class
Olympic GamesKiel, West Germany2ndStar class
1973Star World ChampionshipSan Diego Bay, USA8thStar class
1974Star World ChampionshipLaredo, Spain2ndStar class
1976Star World ChampionshipNassau, Bahamas8thStar class
19776 Metre World CupMarstrand, Sweden1st6 Metre class
1978Star World ChampionshipSan Francisco, USA17thStar class
1979Star World ChampionshipMarstrand, Sweden6thStar class
6 Metre World CupSeattle, USA1st6 Metre class
19836 Metre World CupNewport, USA1st6 Metre class
1995Star World ChampionshipLaredo, Spain63rdStar class
1998Star World ChampionshipPortorož, Slovenia89thStar class
2009Star World ChampionshipVarberg, Sweden61stStar class

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pelle Petterson". Swedish Olympic Committee.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ståhlberg, Carin (29 July 2016). "Att finna sin form". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 Karlsson, Ronny. "Seglaren Pelle Petterson fyller 90 år". Norra Halland.
  4. ↑ "Pelle Petterson". Nationalencyklopedin.
  5. ↑ Cronenberg, Elke. "Pelle Pettersson". Swedish Sailing Federation. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "New Petterson design for Swedish Match". Yachting World. 3 July 2003.
  7. ↑ Swärd, Lasse (8 November 2009). "Volvo ger upprättelse åt P1800:s skapare" [Volvo provide redress to the P1800's creator]. Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  8. 1 2 "Pelle Petterson". Olympedia. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  9. ↑ Johansson, Josefine (30 July 2022). "Designlegendaren fyller 90: "Känner mig som 40"".
  10. ↑ "KTHs Stora pris – Samtliga vinnare (KTH's Grand Prize – All the winners)", KTH, 29 September 2009, archived from the original on 6 December 2009, retrieved 8 November 2009
  11. ↑ HM King Carl XVI Gustaf Medals, 8 June 2010, archived from the original on 16 August 2010, retrieved 8 June 2010
  12. ↑ "Sailor Biography". members.sailing.org.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pelle_Petterson&oldid=1340087559"