Pelle Petterson

Pelle Petterson
Pelle Petterson in June 2010
Personal information
Full namePelle Helmer Petterson
Born (1932-07-31) 31 July 1932
Stockholm, Sweden
Sailing career
Class(es)Star, Soling, 6 Metre, 12 Metre
ClubKattegattflottiljen
Medal record
Sailing
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1972 Munich Star class
Bronze medal – third place 1964 Tokyo Star class
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1969 San Diego Star class
Gold medal – first place 1977 Marstrand 6 Metre class
Gold medal – first place 1979 Seattle 6 Metre class
Gold medal – first place 1983 Newport 6 Metre class
Silver medal – second place 1969 Copenhagen Soling
Silver medal – second place 1974 Laredo Star class

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.

Biography

Early life

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

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

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

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

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

As of 27 September 2015[12]
Year Competition Venue Position Event
1964 Olympic Games Enoshima, Japan 3rd Star class
1966 Star World Championship Kiel, West Germany 7th Star class
1967 Star World Championship Copenhagen, Denmark 5th Star class
1969 Star World Championship San Diego, USA 1st Star class
Soling World Championship Copenhagen, DEN 2nd Soling
1970 Star World Championship Marstrand, Sweden 13th Star class
1971 Star World Championship Puget Sound, USA 7th Star class
1972 Star World Championship Caracas, Venezuela 4th Star class
Olympic Games Kiel, West Germany 2nd Star class
1973 Star World Championship San Diego Bay, USA 8th Star class
1974 Star World Championship Laredo, Spain 2nd Star class
1976 Star World Championship Nassau, Bahamas 8th Star class
1977 6 Metre World Cup Marstrand, Sweden 1st 6 Metre class
1978 Star World Championship San Francisco, USA 17th Star class
1979 Star World Championship Marstrand, Sweden 6th Star class
6 Metre World Cup Seattle, USA 1st 6 Metre class
1983 6 Metre World Cup Newport, USA 1st 6 Metre class
1995 Star World Championship Laredo, Spain 63rd Star class
1998 Star World Championship Portorož, Slovenia 89th Star class
2009 Star World Championship Varberg, Sweden 61st Star class

See also

  • Monark 540

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Pelle Petterson". Swedish Olympic Committee.
  2. ^ a b c d Ståhlberg, Carin (29 July 2016). "Att finna sin form". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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, retrieved 8 June 2010
  12. ^ "Sailor Biography". members.sailing.org.


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