Carl Eichenlaub, a sailing technician from San Diego, Calif., has been a mainstay of the U.S. Olympic Sailing program for more than 20 years. In 1979, he accompanied the squad attending the Pan Am Games as the official boatwright, a position he has held for the USA at six subsequent Pan Am Games, two Goodwill Games and six Olympic Games. This August will mark Eichenlaub’s seventh trip to the Olympic Games, again as the invaluable boatwright or "fixer of all things." The Games veteran is 74 years young.

"Carl embodies the Olympic Spirit more than anyone I know," says Olympic Director Jonathan Harley, who himself is a veteran of five Olympic Games and will serve as Team Manager this time around. "He is selfless and well known among foreign teams for his willingness to provide support and share knowledge during international competitions. At last year’s Pan Am Games in the Dominican Republic Carl was selected by the U.S. team captains to be the U.S. Flagbearer for Opening Ceremonies. It was the first time a U.S. Pan American Team had selected a non-athlete for the honor."

Eichenlaub’s dedication to the USA sailors is unfailing and never was more apparent than when he suffered a broken hip at the Athletes’ Village during the 2000 Olympic Games, yet maintained his duties while on crutches.  He is frequently approached at international competitions by foreign athletes with damaged equipment and seldom refuses a request for assistance once his work for the U.S. team is complete. With an ability to fix boats that has become legendary, Eichenlaub now travels to each event with a specially outfitted 40-foot container that holds, among other things, a swedging machine, drill press, compressors and a microwave oven for curing resin.

"We come better prepared and with better equipment than anyone in the world," he said. "I'll have welding equipment, cables and a complete array of hand power tools."

"Sailing for me goes back to when I was 10 years old, built my first boat and did my earlier sailing in the San Diego River," Eichenlaub said. "When I got to be 15, I built a bigger boat and joined the San Diego Yacht Club."

Eichenlaub, with the design help of Lowell North, built top-flight Star boats from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, and his boats, in the hands of such skippers as North, Bill Ficker and Joe Duplin, won several world championship titles during the 1950s and 1960s.  The owner and operator of Eichenlaub Marine, he can be found playing the oboe with a local symphony when not tinkering with boats.