Gordon Ingate OAM, who grew up in Mosman and went on to become Australia’s oldest Olympian, the world’s oldest living sailing Olympian, and one of the most beloved figures in the country’s maritime history, died on 24 April 2026, just weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday on Sydney Harbour with a gathering of family and friends who had followed his wake across eight decades of racing.
He was still sailing his much-loved timber sloop Jasnar on Sydney Harbour just two weekends before he died.
Known throughout the waterfront as Wingnut, later shortened to Wingy, Ingate embodied a particular kind of Australian sailing character: competitive, irreverent, self-deprecating about his chronic seasickness, and entirely incapable of staying off the water. Australian Olympic Committee President Ian Chesterman captured it succinctly.
“He had a remarkable record as a sportsman, but also as someone who made a real difference across his 100 years. A truly exceptional person,” Chesterman said.
A Mosman Boy, a Sea Scout, and a Lifelong Obsession
Ingate’s connection to the water began in Mosman, where he grew up alongside Sydney Harbour and joined the Sea Scouts at age nine. It was at Mosman Amateur Sailing Club that he would later meet the two most important people of his sailing life: Nina Saalfeld and her daughter Sally, who sailed on the family’s double-ended sloop, also named Jasnar.
His offshore racing career began when he was introduced to the sport by the owners of Wayfarer and Kathleen, both entrants in the inaugural 1945 Sydney Hobart. His first offshore race to Lion Island brought him a severe bout of seasickness. It was not the last time, and it never stopped him.
In 1950, aged 24, Ingate skippered Jasnar in the Sydney to Hobart and took Sally along. She was 21, an accomplished sailor and, as it turned out, a patient carer.
“I was so seasick, she looked after me for three days,” he recalled. “She was not only pumping the boat out to keep it dry, she even peeled the grapes and took the seeds out for me.”
On their arrival in Hobart, the famous sailor Boy Messenger called out from the dock: “You should marry that girl, Gordon.” He did. They sent a telegram to Sally’s family asking permission, and Gordon and Sally Ingate were married and remained so for 48 years.
An Olympic Dream Delayed by Two Decades
Ingate qualified for the 1948 London Olympics and the 1952 Olympics but his employer refused him leave both times. “The boss gave me an emphatic NO,” he said. He finally broke through for his Olympic debut at the 1972 Munich Games. Aged 46, he skippered the Tempest class alongside crew Robert Thornton to a 19th-place finish—a result he later joked was notable mostly for beating the Prince of Siam.
That single appearance was nonetheless enough to make him Australia’s oldest living Olympian, a distinction he held to the end of his life.
His campaign aboard Sir Frank Packer’s Gretel II at the 1977 America’s Cup was another chapter of a career that also included nine Sydney to Hobart races, campaigns in the 5.5 Metre and Dragon classes, and Australia’s first Admiral’s Cup campaign in 1965, where he steered Caprice of Huon to three wins from four races, finishing as the team’s top scorer as Australia took second behind Britain.
Two years later Australia reversed the result, winning the Admiral’s Cup outright, with Caprice in the team again.
He won the Scandinavian Gold Cup in the 5.5 Metre class. He won the Prince Philip Cup four times in the Dragon class, the last at age 91 at Metung Yacht Club in 2018, his Dragon, Whimsical, living up to its name.
Still Winning at 94, Still Sailing at 100
The records Ingate set late in life were as remarkable as anything he had achieved in his prime. In 2020, at age 94, he won the Dragon national championship to become Australia’s oldest open class national champion. In 2025 he was still sailing Jasnar at Sydney Harbour Regattas and recording firsts and seconds against sailors a fraction of his age.
He joined the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on 1 January 1949, serving as Rear Commodore in 1965, and was its oldest living member at the time of his death. He was also a long-serving member of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, where his 100th birthday celebration was held in late March 2026.
In 2016 he received a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to sailing. The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron recognised him with a Life Achievement Award in 2019, and Australian Sailing followed in 2020 with its own Lifetime Achievement Award.
Just prior to the last Sydney to Hobart, Ingate visited the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and shared stories with 18-year-old Ali Braden, one of the youngest sailors in the fleet, who was preparing for her first trip south. His advice to her was characteristically direct.
“Hold on tight,” he said.
Gordon Ingate is survived by his son Stephen and daughter Christine and their families.
Published 29-April-2026
