Juan OLABARRI DE LA SOTA

Having won several national Spanish Finn class sailing titles, Juan Olabarri went on to win the Finn gold medal at the 1963 Mediterranean Games in Napoli. The following year, he competed at the Tokyo Olympics, again in the Finn class, and was classified 27th, with a best finish of 16th in race six.

After the Olympics, Olabarri spent a lot of time sailing in England and France, and in 1968 won the Channel Race in the English Channel, aboard Mizar. He enjoyed one of his finest moments at the 1975 Fastnet Race when he won the Beta class aboard Machichaco, and was classified ninth overall. With his boat Artako, he won the Spanish Copa Gitana (The Gypsy Cup) for classic boats, a record 17 times, to confirm his standing as the greatest Basque sailor of all time.