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Fernando Echavarri is a professional yachtsman in the
Olympic Tornado Class. Teaming with crew Antón Paz Blanco, he
became Spanish, European, World Champion and ISAF Sailor of
the year in 2006.
Echavarri was born on 13 August, 1971 in Santander. When he
was five years old, his family moved to Pontevedra in Galicia
due to his father’s medical practice as surgeon chief in the
Montecelo Hospital.
Fernando first sailed in a 38 foot ketch aged eight and soon
joined the local sailing school where he excelled in the
Optimist fleet of the Real Club Náutico de Sangenjo. His two
brothers and sister soon joined him and made sailing their
common passion, racing regattas all over Spain and Portugal.
Although his parents did not sail, they adapted their spare
time and holidays to their kids’ racing calendar, always
encouraging them to enjoy the sport. When Fernando was 15, he
completed the Optimist class and entered the laser (dinghy)
class sailing the standard rig while only weighing 60kg and
just 170cm tall. Although only competitive in light
conditions, he soon developed a special technique downwind
that gave him fantastic results at a national level.
In 1992, aged 20, the International Sailing Federation chose
the laser as the new one-person dinghy to be competed in
Atlanta in 1996. At that time, Fernando had joined the
Spanish military draft Servicio Militar in the Ejército de
Tierra de España. His duties mainly focused on being the
assistant of the Lieutenant Colonel in charge of the BRILAT
(Brigada de Infantería Aerotransportable) located in
Pontevedra. It was at this time that Fernando truly showed
his speed by winning every race in the laser in Galicia from
1991-1996 and by driving on time his Lieutenant Colonel all
over the country. After 12 months in the military service, he
was surprisingly discharged with honours. His old Lieutenant
Colonel was later quoted as saying “Fernando was the best
chief assistant the Ejército de Tierra de España ever had”.
However, some doubt this highly, mostly because the
overwhelming amount of anecdotes during Fernando’s military
service. Due to his merits, his commander was eager to
provide special permits for Fernando to compete and train. It
was in spring 1993 that Fernando passed the trials to become a
member in the Spanish Pre-Olympic Sailing Team Royal Spanish
Sailing Federation, a position he held from 1992-1996. During
these years he was second in the nationals in 1995 and 1996,
but missed the final cut to represent Spain in the Atlanta
1996 Olympic Games. Although extremely competitive in light
and mid-air, his performance in windy conditions was not
competitive enough. In order to enhance his competitiveness,
he raced with a weighted jacket, but, as a result, he
developed a chronic back injury, an injury that although
partially cured, still persists today.
In spring 1997, Fernando teamed with Paz Blanco as crew to
race in the Tornado Olympic catamaran for the Sydney 2000
summer Olympics. The Tornado Class is a two person catamaran
that achieves very high speeds. It was added in 1976 to the
assortment of boats in the Olympic Event overseen by the
International Sailing Federation. The Tornado was designed in
the autumn of 1967 by Rodney March from England, with help
from Terry Pierce and Reg White, specifically for the purpose
of being the new Olympic Catamaran, which was to be selected
by the IYRU in an Olympic Catamaran Trials. The boat was
developed mainly in Brightlingsea, England. The Tornado has
since remained unchallenged as the ultimate one-design
catamaran.
The early years in the Tornado class were hard. Having a
limited budget, and lacking a technical background in
catamarans, they concentrated on physical condition, sailing,
maximising resources, while learning the basics. During these
early years, all economical resources came from Fernando’s
parents who saw a total dedication by both sailors. However,
slowly, the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation realised the
potential of this duo. Importantly, good references from
Tornado gold medallist and world champion Fernando León, his
crew Pepote Ballester and the Tornado national coach Antonio
Navarro, plus some promising results, promoted their presence
in the National team. This brought them to a new level
because León/Ballester were an international top team winning
in Atlanta in 1996. In 2000, Fernando and Antón were chosen
as sparring (team B) in the Spanish Olympic sailing team for
the Sydney 2000 Olympics. |
