With the death of the South German, who died of a stroke at home on Lake Starnberg, the German and international sailing scene has lost an important personality.
Eckart Wagner took part in several Olympic sailing competitions as a crew member. His own Olympic start in the 1980 star boat in Moscow fell victim to the western boycott. He was world champion in the half-tonner (1974) and the two-tonner (1977). However, Wagner became even better known for his involvement in the North Sails Group, which he played a key role in turning into the world's leading producer of regatta sails.
At the age of 26, he met founder Lowell North and went on to set up North Sails Germany, the group's first and most profitable loft in Europe. In 1981, he started North Sails Surf and had surf sails manufactured in Sri Lanka. After the sale of the North Group to the American industrialist Terry Kohler in 1984, he rose to the position of CEO.
He later worked for Mercedes Benz's ambitious AeroSail programme, among others; he developed the concept for the car manufacturer and played a key role in the first important implementation steps. AeroSail was originally intended to be a mix of talent development and technology; the (unspoken) long-term goal was Germany's participation in the America's Cup. Ultimately, the programme only failed ? according to insiders ? because the young sailors were not given enough time to achieve success. The end of the programme finally came with a change of board when the sailing enthusiast Edzard Reuter stepped down.
Eckart Wagner was faithful to sailing and competition right to the end. He continued to sail his Star boat until he was 65 and won his last regatta in the Gold Cup on Lake Starnberg together with his brother Norbert. He also competed in classic car rallies and trained his daughter Kristin for her Olympic campaign in yngling. His companion Jay Hansen from North Sails put it in a nutshell: "He lived to the max until the end, and that came far too quickly."
