Sailor Isabella Bertold.Photo illustration The Globe and Mail. Source photo: Royal Vancouver Yacht Club/Supplied
Isabella Bertold has conquered a few worlds. For four years, she worked as a venture capitalist investing in start-ups. She is a world-class sailor and was a member of Canada’s national team for 15 years. She is currently the strategist for the country’s first fully professional sailing team, which competes – quite well – on the international SailGP circuit. She is also a professional cyclist and next year will undertake her biggest challenge yet when she skippers Canada’s yacht at the first Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona.
The chatty 32-year-old lives in Vancouver where she sails out of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, the sponsor of her America’s Cup effort.
As many as 12 women’s teams will compete in Barcelona in identical 40-foot monohull foiling sailboats that reach speeds of 75 kilometres an hour.
They are similar to the boats that participate in SailGP, where Canada finished third among 10 teams in June in the opening event of the season in Chicago.
On the first of two race days, its craft attained a maximum of 79.4 km/h.
“It was quite exciting racing and the boat was quite difficult to sail as well,” Bertold says. “It was like we were trying to tame a beast the whole time we were out on the water.”
Her America’s Cup team will begin training this August in Lake Garda, Italy.
“There is lots of time between then and the America’s Cup but it will go very fast,” she says.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Probably the ability to wake up in the morning and do whatever you would like to do without worry or concern.
What is your idea of misery?
Feeling like I am stuck on a bit of a hamster wheel. Not necessarily working towards anything that I am passionate about or personally interested in.
What do you consider your main fault?
A lack of patience. Sometimes I want things to play out quicker than the universe allows them to happen. I think it goes hand in hand with my work ethic. I think one actually fuels the other and it’s a bit of a vicious cycle that has a lot of positive outcomes at the same time.
If not a sailor, what would you like most to do?
I would definitely be back in the investment space.
If you could choose, where would you like to live?
I have a few spots. I wouldn’t mind living in Europe, whether it’s Barcelona, and there are spots on my list in parts of Portugal that I would pick. I would also like to live for a few years in the U.S. somewhere – varying cities all for different reasons. A consistent theme that I would look for is access to nature and access to water. Outdoor recreation needs to be high on the list wherever I end up.
What is your favourite colour?
(Bursts out laughing.) This is funny. When I was in elementary school, I’d be asked my favourite colour and I’d say black and someone would say that’s not a colour it’s a shade. But I will stick with it and I’m definitely a fan of red as well.
So Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones is your all-time favourite song?
It’s right up there!
Do you have a favourite author?
Jennifer Egan. I really like her writing style. A Visit from the Goon Squad is one of my favourite books. All of her books are quite different and have very different themes.
Who is your favourite hero in fiction?
I do not have one.
On what occasions do you lie?
I will give you a funny example. You have recovery days from sports where you are supposed to go do something but it’s not anything very difficult. I will leave my bike computer running longer than I am actually riding to make it look like I completed the session. Like, maybe I have done an easy 30-minute bike ride when I was supposed to do an hour. It just keeps running and I am walking around and drinking a coffee in the kitchen.
Do you have a hero in real life?
That one is quite difficult for me. You can pull positive inspiration from anyone and any interaction if you have the right mindset. So that could be from somebody I am competing against, another athlete in another sport, political leaders, business leaders that stand up and voice their opinion and make a stand for things. I am somebody that tries to look for inspiration from anybody around me at all times. I sort of say I always want to be learning. I think if you have that mindset you end up with a lot of heroes and people you look up to.
Do you have a pet?
Rothko, a Bernese mountain dog, named after the painter Mark Rothko.
Do you have one great regret?
I don’t have any great regrets. I think I am a very glass-half-full type of person. Life happens for a reason. If you pull a lesson from something there is a purpose to it.
What is your greatest achievement?
I stepped away from sailing for a few years so I think my greatest achievement is that I really enjoy it again and that I still love it even after all these years of competing and having highs and lows. It still brings me as much joy as it did when I was five.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Coffee beans. Definitely I am a coffee snob. I probably spend a lot more money on coffee beans than the average person.