Blair Cochrane

Captain Blair Onslow Cochrane (11 September 1853 –7 December 1928) was a British sailor who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was helmsman of the British boat Cobweb, which won the gold medal in the 8-metre class. Cochrane was born near Darlington, County Durham, the son of a wealthy land and coal mine owner. His great-grandfather was Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald. He was educated at King's College School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He joined the Royal Horse Artillery and rose to the rank of captain. In 1896, Cochrane, Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Henry Macdonald Moreton, and Captain Ernest du Boulay instigated the Bembridge Redwing class the earliest one design keelboat class with a One Design hull and restricted development rig. In the 1908 Olympic Games, Cochrane and his brothers-in-law, Henry Sutton and John Rhodes, raced in Cochrane's yacht, Cobweb, that won the 8-metre class.