Aaron McIntosh

Aucklander McIntosh took over Bruce Kendall's mantle as New Zealand's top male boardsailor in the mid-1990s. Though the two vied for Olympic selection for some years, they were good friends and also assisted each other, providing competition in training and technical advice.
McIntosh, a product of Macleans College, Auckland, was second at the world Mistral championships in 1993 and was third in 1995. He won the title in 1994, and followed that with further successes in 1997 and 1998. He won New Zealand Sailor of the Year awards in 1997 and 1998.
He was shaded for a medal at his first Olympics, finishing fourth in a massive field of 46 in the Mistral competition at Savannah in 1996. His tally of 27 points left him just behind bronze medallist Gal Fridman of Israel, though well clear of fifth-placed Frenchman Jean-Max de Chavigny.
Four years later, at the Sydney Olympics, McIntosh improved to third, one of only four New Zealand medallists at those Games. His points total was 48, just a whisker away from Argentinian Carlos Espinola, who won the silver medal. Thirty-six boardsailors competed in Sydney.
Like Bruce and Barbara Kendall, he was coached by former boardsailor Grant Beck until after the Sydney Olympics. On Beck’s retirement, Bruce Kendall took over as his coach.
McIntosh kept himself busy competing, but when not on the circuit he sometimes gained employment as a boat-builder. In 2001 he joined the Oracle America’s Cup campaign as part of the weather team.