Brad Fitzgerald
|
Fitzgerald is a boat builder by trade and worked on many well-known
racing yachts at the Esprit Boat Yard in San Diego. In 1990, Fitzgerald was hired
by Paul Cayard to manage the composites department of Italy's Il Moro campaign
where he was involved with the construction of five new IACC hulls and oversaw
all modifications and repairs.
Leading up to the 1995 Cup, Fitzgerald saw an opportunity to focus specifically
on his specialty -- major structural modifications to large carbon fiber pre-preg
sailboats. He started Fitzgerald Racing which contracted boat building services
to five different America's Cup teams during the '95 Cup, noted Billingham.
"This is an incredible validation of Fitzgerald's skill and reputation," he
added. "These teams are particularly selective about the people who work on
their boats and they trusted Fitzgerald Racing with the most important facet
of their campaigns -- the boat's performance."
When Fitz joined AmericaOne, the most impressive of these contracts was the
modification of the Japanese Nippon Challenge boat, where the bow and stern
sections were cut off and replaced. This was a job considered much more difficult
than building an entire new boat (which the rules would not allow).
Fitzgerald's company, Fitzgerald Racing, provides AmericaOne with a workshop
facility in San Diego where the one-third scale boats were assembled, rigged
and are modified and maintained. Other not-so-well-known aspects of Fitzgerald's
responsibilities at AmericaOne are haz-mat management of all boat yard materials
and the equipment safety program.
Fitzgerald lives with his wife Patty and his son Kyle, 13, and daughter Carolyn,
11, in San Diego. When not chain-sawing boats, Fitzgerald loves a good day surfing.
HOME PORT | NEWSLINE
Official Sponsors
Ford/Visteon | Hewlett-Packard Company | Network Solutions | Telcordia Technologies
SAIC | United Technologies
Official Supporting Sponsors
Air New Zealand | Charles Schwab | Global Integrity | Intesa
Line7 | LYCOS
Select Here to View Official Suppliers
Select Here to View Team Suppliers
