Growing up in Florida, Baird raced in the Optimist class at junior level, before moving onto other dinghies. Baird has also ventured into open water racing, having competed in round the world races in 1997-1998 (for Innovation Kvaerner) and 2001-2002 (for Djuice Dragons). Later in 2007, he was named the International Sailing Federation"s male World Sailor of the Year.
He was a premier instructor for North-U’s Tactical and speed clinics in the 90’s, has written an instructional book (Laser Racing) and over a hundred tactical how-to articles
Baird has worked with Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, Outdoor Life Network, Versus and Television New Zealand as an expert commentator for shows about sailboat racing.
Achievements
He was a coach of the 1995 America"s Cup-winning Team New Zealand and a helmsman for the 2007 America"s Cup-winning Alinghi syndicate. He won the World Laser Championships in 1980 and the World J/24 Championships in 1983. Baird joined Team New Zealand as a coach for the 1995 America"s Cup, guiding the syndicate to New Zealand"s first ever Cup win.
In the same year, he won the World Match Racing Championships, and was named the United States"s Yachtsman of the Year.
In 1999, he skippered Young America in the Louis Vuitton series to determine the challenger for the following year"s America"s Cup, but the syndicate"s challenge faltered when one of its two yachts nearly sank in a race against a Japanese team As the helmsman of the Alinghi team for the 2007 America"s Cup, he led the syndicate to win the series 5-2 against his former team, Team New Zealand.
Winning 4 of 5 events, Baird skippered Alinghi’s Extreme 40 to a dominant win on the iShares Extreme-40 Catamaran Circuit in 2008. He then coached team owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, who helmed the massive catamaran, Alinghi 5 in the 2010 America"s Cup.
In 2011, Baird skippered the United States-flagged, Quantum Racing TP 52 to win both the Audi MedCup Series and the TP 52 World Championship.
Baird currently races on international circuits for the TP 52, Melges 32, and Remote Control 44 (2012 Match Racing Champion). While best known as a champion match racer and fleet racing helmsman, Baird has also coached world and Olympic champions such as Anna Tunnicliffe, Sally Barkow and Kevin Mahaney.
Membership
As part of these offshore racing challenges, Baird was a member of the winning team in the grueling, Sydney to Hobart Race in 2000, aboard the maxi yacht, Nicorette World War II
