Our ranking of the 15 best sailors of all time, led by Ben Ainslie, Paul Elvstrøm and Russell Coutts, with Olympic golds, America’s Cups and solo records.
Each profile lists discipline, country, birth date and the titles that matter, followed by what made the sailor stand out. The list covers Olympic dinghy and keelboat sailors, America’s Cup helmsmen and solo ocean racers, from the 1940s to today. Below the ranking you will find the best sailor in each discipline and the names that just missed the cut.
How We Ranked the Sailors
- Olympic medals: gold medals at the Games count most in dinghy and keelboat sailing.
- America’s Cup and ocean races: wins in the oldest trophy in international sport and in the big round the world races.
- Records: first or fastest voyages, such as solo circumnavigations, carry real weight.
- Range: success in more than one boat or more than one form of the sport.
Comparing a Finn sailor with a solo circumnavigator is never exact, so we looked at how far each sailor stood above the rivals of the time. Team owners who did not sail their boats are not included. The order is our own judgment, not an official one.
The 15 Best Sailors at a Glance
| # | Sailor | Discipline | Career |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Ainslie | Olympic dinghy (Laser, Finn), America’s Cup | since 1993 |
| 2 | Paul Elvstrøm | Olympic dinghy (Firefly, Finn) and many classes | 1948 to 1988 |
| 3 | Russell Coutts | America’s Cup, match racing, Olympic Finn | 1984 to 2013 |
| 4 | Robert Scheidt | Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Laser, Star) | 1993 to 2021 |
| 5 | Torben Grael | Olympic keelboat (Star, Soling), ocean racing | 1984 to 2009 |
| 6 | Ellen MacArthur | Solo offshore racing | 1995 to 2010 |
| 7 | Peter Burling | America’s Cup, Olympic 49er | since 2006 |
| 8 | Jochen Schümann | Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Finn, Soling) | 1976 to 2007 |
| 9 | Dennis Conner | America’s Cup, Olympic keelboat (Tempest, Star) | 1971 to 1995 |
| 10 | Peter Blake | Ocean racing, America’s Cup | 1973 to 2000 |
| 11 | Robin Knox-Johnston | Solo offshore racing | 1968 to 2007 |
| 12 | Valentin Mankin | Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Finn, Tempest, Star) | 1968 to 1980 |
| 13 | Marit Bouwmeester | Olympic dinghy (Laser Radial) | 2010 to 2024 |
| 14 | Michel Desjoyeaux | Solo offshore racing | 1990s to 2015 |
| 15 | Shirley Robertson | Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Europe, Yngling) | 1993 to 2004 |
#1 Ben Ainslie
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic dinghy (Laser, Finn), America’s Cup
- 🎂 Born: February 5, 1977, in Macclesfield, England
- 🌍 Country: Great Britain
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 4× Olympic champion (Laser 2000, Finn 2004, 2008, 2012), Olympic silver (Laser 1996), 6× Finn world champion, 2× Laser world champion, America’s Cup winner (2013, tactician)
Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Games from 1996 to 2012, silver in the Laser in Atlanta and then four straight golds, the first in the Laser and three in the Finn. Only Paul Elvstrøm had won four Olympic sailing golds before him.
In 2013 Oracle Team USA brought him in as tactician during the America’s Cup final, and the team came back from a heavy deficit to beat Emirates Team New Zealand 9 to 8. He then built his own British challenge, which won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2024 before losing the match to New Zealand. He was knighted after the 2012 Games.
#2 Paul Elvstrøm
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic dinghy (Firefly, Finn) and many classes
- 🎂 Born: February 25, 1928, in Hellerup, Denmark (died December 7, 2016)
- 🌍 Country: Denmark
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 4× Olympic champion (Firefly 1948, Finn 1952, 1956, 1960), 13× world champion in 8 classes, Danish Sportsman of the Century
Elvstrøm won gold at four consecutive Olympic Games, in the Firefly in London in 1948 and in the Finn in 1952, 1956 and 1960. He was the first sailor to win four Olympic golds, a mark matched only by Ben Ainslie more than 50 years later.
He won 13 world titles in eight different classes, the last in the Half Ton class in 1981. He founded Elvstrøm Sails, and Denmark named him its Sportsman of the Century. He died in Hellerup, where he was born, in 2016.
#3 Russell Coutts
- ⛵ Discipline: America’s Cup, match racing, Olympic Finn
- 🎂 Born: March 1, 1962, in Wellington, New Zealand
- 🌍 Country: New Zealand, Switzerland (Alinghi), United States (Oracle)
- 🏆 Career Highlights: Olympic Finn champion (1984), 3× America’s Cup winner as skipper (1995, 2000, 2003), 2× as CEO (2010, 2013), 3× World Match Racing champion
Coutts won Olympic gold in the Finn in Los Angeles in 1984. As a skipper in America’s Cup matches he never lost a race, across 1995 and 2000 with Team New Zealand and 2003 with the Swiss team Alinghi.
He then ran Oracle as CEO when it won the Cup in 2010 and again in 2013, giving him five America’s Cup wins in total. He also won three World Match Racing Championships. He also co-founded the SailGP series with Larry Ellison.
#4 Robert Scheidt
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Laser, Star)
- 🎂 Born: April 15, 1973, in São Paulo, Brazil
- 🌍 Country: Brazil
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 2× Olympic champion (Laser 1996, 2004), 2× Olympic silver (Laser 2000, Star 2008), Olympic bronze (Star 2012), 9× Laser world champion, 3× Star world champion
Scheidt won five Olympic medals: gold in the Laser in 1996 and 2004, silver in 2000, then silver and bronze in the two-man Star in 2008 and 2012.
He won nine Laser world titles, the last in 2013 at the age of 40, and three in the Star. In Rio in 2016 he won the medal race and still finished fourth. At Tokyo 2020 he became the first Brazilian to compete at seven Olympic Games.
#5 Torben Grael
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic keelboat (Star, Soling), ocean racing
- 🎂 Born: July 22, 1960, in São Paulo, Brazil
- 🌍 Country: Brazil
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 2× Olympic champion (Star 1996, 2004), Olympic silver (Soling 1984), 2× Olympic bronze (Star 1988, 2000), Volvo Ocean Race winner (2008 to 2009, skipper of Ericsson 4)
Grael won five Olympic medals over 20 years, from silver in the Soling in 1984 to gold in the Star in Athens in 2004. His other gold came in the Star in Atlanta in 1996, with bronze in 1988 and 2000.
He skippered Brasil 1, the first all-Brazilian entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, to third place in 2005 to 2006. In the next edition he skippered the Swedish boat Ericsson 4 and won. His daughter Martine Grael became an Olympic champion herself.
#6 Ellen MacArthur
- ⛵ Discipline: Solo offshore racing
- 🎂 Born: July 8, 1976, in Whatstandwell, England
- 🌍 Country: Great Britain
- 🏆 Career Highlights: Solo round the world record (71 days, 14 hours, 2005), 2nd in the Vendée Globe (2001), Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2005)
MacArthur finished second in the 2000 to 2001 Vendée Globe, the solo non-stop race around the world, at the age of 24, the youngest sailor to complete it at that time. Her boat was Kingfisher.
On February 7, 2005, she set the record for the fastest solo circumnavigation in the trimaran B&Q/Castorama: 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. The record stood until early 2008. She was made a Dame at 28, the youngest person to receive the honour, and retired from racing in 2010 to run her foundation.
#7 Peter Burling
- ⛵ Discipline: America’s Cup, Olympic 49er
- 🎂 Born: January 1, 1991, in Tauranga, New Zealand
- 🌍 Country: New Zealand
- 🏆 Career Highlights: Olympic 49er champion (2016), 2× Olympic silver (2012, 2020), 3× America’s Cup winner as helmsman (2017, 2021, 2024), 6× 49er world champion, Moth world champion (2015)
Burling helmed Emirates Team New Zealand to America’s Cup wins in Bermuda in 2017, in Auckland in 2021 and in Barcelona in 2024. In 2024 he beat Ben Ainslie’s British challenger.
With Blair Tuke he won three Olympic medals in the 49er, gold in Rio in 2016 between silvers in 2012 and 2020, plus six world titles. He was World Sailor of the Year in 2015 and 2017. He left Team New Zealand in 2025 and joined Italy’s Luna Rossa.
#8 Jochen Schümann
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Finn, Soling)
- 🎂 Born: June 8, 1954, in East Berlin, East Germany
- 🌍 Country: East Germany, Germany
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 3× Olympic champion (Finn 1976, Soling 1988, 1996), Olympic silver (Soling 2000), 2× America’s Cup winner with Alinghi (2003, 2007), World Sailor of the Year (1996)
Schümann won Olympic gold in the Finn for East Germany in Montreal in 1976 and in the three-man Soling in Seoul in 1988. After reunification he won the Soling again for Germany in 1996 and took silver in 2000.
He then moved to the America’s Cup as sporting director of the Swiss team Alinghi, which won the Cup in 2003 and defended it in 2007. The world sailing federation named him World Sailor of the Year in 1996.
#9 Dennis Conner
- ⛵ Discipline: America’s Cup, Olympic keelboat (Tempest, Star)
- 🎂 Born: September 16, 1942, in San Diego, California, USA
- 🌍 Country: United States
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 3× America’s Cup winner (1980, 1987, 1988), Olympic bronze (Tempest 1976), 2× Star world champion (1971, 1977)
Conner defended the America’s Cup in 1980. In 1983 he lost 4 to 3 to Australia II, the first time the United States had lost the Cup in its 132-year history, ending the longest winning streak in sport.
He won it back as the challenger in 1987 and defended it again in 1988. He also won the Star world title in 1971 and 1977 and an Olympic bronze in the Tempest in 1976. In 1995 he lost the Cup 5 to 0 to Team New Zealand.
#10 Peter Blake
- ⛵ Discipline: Ocean racing, America’s Cup
- 🎂 Born: October 1, 1948, in Auckland, New Zealand (died December 5, 2001)
- 🌍 Country: New Zealand
- 🏆 Career Highlights: Whitbread Round the World Race winner (1989 to 1990), Jules Verne Trophy (1994, with Robin Knox-Johnston), 2× America’s Cup winner as syndicate head (1995, 2000)
Blake won the 1989 to 1990 Whitbread Round the World Race on Steinlager 2. In 1994 he and Robin Knox-Johnston sailed ENZA New Zealand around the world in 74 days, 22 hours to win the Jules Verne Trophy, a record that stood until 1997.
As head of Team New Zealand he won the America’s Cup 5 to 0 against Dennis Conner in 1995, when his lucky red socks became a national craze, and defended it 5 to 0 against Prada in 2000. That made New Zealand the first team outside the United States to defend the Cup. He was shot and killed by pirates on the Amazon River in Brazil in 2001 while on an environmental expedition.
#11 Robin Knox-Johnston
- ⛵ Discipline: Solo offshore racing
- 🎂 Born: March 17, 1939, in Putney, London, England
- 🌍 Country: Great Britain
- 🏆 Career Highlights: First solo non-stop circumnavigation (1968 to 1969), Golden Globe Race winner, Jules Verne Trophy (1994, with Peter Blake)
Knox-Johnston left Falmouth on June 14, 1968, in Suhaili, a 32-foot ketch and one of the smallest boats in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. He returned on April 22, 1969, after 312 days, as the first person to sail around the world alone without stopping.
He lost his self-steering gear off Australia. In 1994 he and Peter Blake won the Jules Verne Trophy. In 2007 he became the oldest sailor to complete a solo round the world race.
#12 Valentin Mankin
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Finn, Tempest, Star)
- 🎂 Born: August 19, 1938, in Kyiv, Soviet Union (died June 1, 2014)
- 🌍 Country: Soviet Union
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 3× Olympic champion (Finn 1968, Tempest 1972, Star 1980), Olympic silver (Tempest 1976)
Mankin is the only sailor to win Olympic gold in three different classes. He won the Finn in Mexico City in 1968 and the two-man Tempest in Munich in 1972 with Vitaly Dyrdyra.
He took silver in the Tempest in 1976 and gold in the Star in Moscow in 1980. After his career he coached in Italy. He died in Viareggio in 2014.
#13 Marit Bouwmeester
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic dinghy (Laser Radial)
- 🎂 Born: June 17, 1988, in Warten, Netherlands
- 🌍 Country: Netherlands
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 2× Olympic champion (2016, 2024), Olympic silver (2012), Olympic bronze (2020), 4× world champion, World Sailor of the Year (2017)
Bouwmeester won medals at four consecutive Olympic Games in the women’s single-handed dinghy: silver in 2012, gold in Rio in 2016, bronze in Tokyo and gold again in Paris in 2024. That makes her the most successful female sailor in Olympic history.
She won world titles in 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020, and was World Sailor of the Year in 2017. Her Paris gold came twelve years after her first Olympic medal.
#14 Michel Desjoyeaux
- ⛵ Discipline: Solo offshore racing
- 🎂 Born: July 16, 1965, in Concarneau, France
- 🌍 Country: France
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 2× Vendée Globe winner (2000 to 2001, 2008 to 2009), Route du Rhum winner (2002)
Desjoyeaux won the Vendée Globe, the solo non-stop race around the world, in 2000 to 2001 and again in 2008 to 2009. He is the only sailor to win it twice.
In the first of those wins he beat Ellen MacArthur, who finished second. He also won the 2002 Route du Rhum in the trimaran Géant.
#15 Shirley Robertson
- ⛵ Discipline: Olympic dinghy and keelboat (Europe, Yngling)
- 🎂 Born: July 15, 1968, in Dundee, Scotland
- 🌍 Country: Great Britain
- 🏆 Career Highlights: 2× Olympic champion (Europe 2000, Yngling 2004)
Robertson won the single-handed Europe class in Sydney in 2000 after finishing fourth in Atlanta in 1996. Four years later she won the three-woman Yngling in Athens.
That made her the first British woman to win Olympic gold at two consecutive Games. She was appointed OBE.
Best Sailor in Each Discipline
If you want one name per discipline, these are our picks from the ranking. For the jobs on board a racing yacht, see our guide to sailing positions and roles.
| Discipline | Sailor | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic dinghy | Ben Ainslie | Four golds and a silver at five Games |
| Olympic keelboat | Torben Grael | Two Star golds among five Olympic medals |
| Women’s Olympic sailing | Marit Bouwmeester | Two golds, a silver and a bronze |
| America’s Cup helmsman | Russell Coutts | Unbeaten as skipper in three Cup matches |
| Solo round the world | Michel Desjoyeaux | The only two-time Vendée Globe winner |
| Crewed ocean racing | Peter Blake | Whitbread win and the Jules Verne Trophy |
Honorable Mentions
Eight more sailors who came close and could make the list on another day.
- Éric Tabarly: French naval officer who won the solo transatlantic race in 1964 and 1976 and drowned after being thrown overboard from Pen Duick in 1998.
- Hannah Mills: British 470 sailor who won Olympic gold in 2016 and 2020 and silver in 2012.
- Rodney Pattisson: British sailor who won Flying Dutchman gold in 1968 and 1972 and silver in 1976.
- Iain Percy: British sailor who won Olympic gold in the Finn in 2000 and in the Star in 2008.
- Jimmy Spithill: Australian who skippered Oracle to America’s Cup wins in 2010 and 2013.
- Nathan Outteridge: Australian who won 49er gold in 2012 and silver in 2016 with Iain Jensen.
- Franck Cammas: French sailor who won the Solitaire du Figaro in 1997 and skippered Groupama 4 to victory in the 2011 to 2012 Volvo Ocean Race.
- Charles Caudrelier: French sailor who skippered Dongfeng to victory in the 2017 to 2018 Volvo Ocean Race.
More About Sailing
- History of sailing
- Sailing positions and roles
- Sailing lingo and slang
- Sailing equipment list
- Common sailing injuries
- Sailing quiz
- Sailing Instagram captions
FAQ
Who is the best sailor of all time?
In our ranking it is Ben Ainslie, ahead of Paul Elvstrøm and Russell Coutts. Ainslie won Olympic medals at five consecutive Games, four of them gold, and won the America’s Cup in 2013.
Who are the top 10 greatest sailors of all time?
Our top 10 is Ben Ainslie, Paul Elvstrøm, Russell Coutts, Robert Scheidt, Torben Grael, Ellen MacArthur, Peter Burling, Jochen Schümann, Dennis Conner and Peter Blake.
Who has won the most Olympic medals in sailing?
Ben Ainslie, Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael each won five. Ainslie has the most golds with four, level with Paul Elvstrøm.
Who is the best female sailor of all time?
In Olympic sailing it is Marit Bouwmeester, with two golds, a silver and a bronze. In ocean racing, Ellen MacArthur set the solo round the world record in 2005.
Who was the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world?
Robin Knox-Johnston, who returned to Falmouth on April 22, 1969, after 312 days at sea in Suhaili.
Who has won the America’s Cup the most times?
Russell Coutts was involved in five wins, three as skipper (1995, 2000, 2003) and two as CEO of Oracle (2010, 2013). Peter Burling has won it three times as helmsman.
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