Hans Spitzauer

Olympic sailor Hans Spitzauer participated in five Olympics from Seoul 1988 to Beijing 2008. It would have been six appearances, but he lost the Soling trials in his bid to go to the 2000 Athens Games. From 1988-96 Spitzauer sailed the one-person dinghy (Finn) and came 15th, 8th, and an unfortunate 4th. He then moved to the two-person keelboat (Star) and partnered Andreas Hanakamp in 2004, placing 13th. In 2008, he sailed with Hans-Christian Nehammer and was 12th.

Outside the Games, Spitzauer was one of the world’s most successful Finn Monotype sailors in the early-to-mid-1990s, winning a complete set of medals, with one of each colour (gold, silver, and bronze), at both the Finn Gold Cup and Finn European Championships. In 1995, Spitzauer also won the 1995 World Championships and added two European Championships. In 2007, he won the Kiel Week. Spitzauer also won 25 Austrian national titles.

Spitzauer was a boat designer by profession, who developed the innovative LAGO26 for inland lakes and coastal waters. It was built in collaboration with the designer and yacht constructor Juliane Hempel. Spitzauer was also a team building consultant and an ocean racer.