{"id":381956,"date":"2024-04-05T00:22:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T00:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=381956"},"modified":"2024-04-05T02:03:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T02:03:15","slug":"prankster-and-americas-cup-genius-dies-suddenly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=381956","title":{"rendered":"Prankster and America's Cup 'genius' dies suddenly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0This article originally appeared on<\/strong> Stuff<\/strong><\/a> and is reproduced with permission\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sailing<\/a> world is in shock after the death of "genius" sail designer, Gautier Sergent at just 47.<\/p>\n

Sergent, a Frenchman who was the lead sail designer for Alinghi Red Bull Racing's America's Cup challenge in Barcelona later this year, previously spent several years working in Auckland for North Sails.<\/p>\n

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Tributes from around the world have been flowing in for the respected and visionary designer who has been a lead sail designer on boats competing in the America's Cup, The Ocean Race and most of the other major regattas around the globe.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C5BQf3GsAO1\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp<\/a><\/p>\n

Sergent, who reportedly died after suffering a heart attack, leaves behind his wife Kade Sergent and their three children.<\/p>\n

In an obituary on the North Sails website, Sergent was said to leave behind a legacy of excellence and an irreplaceable hole in the sailing world.<\/p>\n

"Gautier's sails won races, and his genius was underscored by humbleness," North Sails head of design JB Braun told the website.<\/p>\n

"He often credited the win to the boat simply being faster. However, upon further inspection, the 3Di sail and structural design which he developed were truly creative and innovative."<\/p>\n

Braun said many of the sails North Sails make now are evolutions of Sergent's concepts.<\/p>\n

Sergent wasn't just known for his technical ability and forward thinking. Many tributes have highlighted his sense of humour and love of a prank.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The fun-loving Frenchman was responsible for the rooster that was snuck past security and let onto the field at Wellington Stadium during the national anthems for the 2009 All Blacks test against France.<\/p>\n

"Whether he was explaining radical sail designs or beating me in early morning bike rides, I will always remember his signature smile, which was both warm and a little mischievous," Braun told the North Sails website.<\/p>\n

North Sails president Ken Read said Sergent was relentless in his pursuit of finding a competitive edge.<\/p>\n

"He was a visionary sail designer and embraced new challenges with enthusiasm and dedication.<\/p>\n

"Gautier leaves an irreplaceable hole in the sailing world and a legacy that North Sails will be proud to honour," Read told the North Sails website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0This article originally appeared on Stuff and is reproduced with permission\ufeff The sailing world is in shock after the death of "genius" sail designer, Gautier […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":381958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381956"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=381956"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":381959,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381956\/revisions\/381959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/381958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=381956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=381956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=381956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}