Letter: Alan Bond was a fierce, outspoken competitor

Alan Bond , or Bondy, as he was universally known to sailors, was a man who let nothing stand in his way. From his early competitive sailing on the Swan river to the beginnings of his international challenges, he was a fierce, outspoken competitor and to say that he mellowed would be a massive overstatement.

Only Bondy could front up to the elite of the New York Yacht Club with a canary yellow challenger for the America’s Cup, as he did in 1974 with Southern Cross, and then exploit the accepted nationality rule three years later when he introduced a Californian match-racing tactician into the crew of Australia, and had the New Yorkers running wild.