Born in Pittsburgh in 1964, John Kostecki started sailing on San Francisco Bay. He won the Sunfish world championship in 1982, then several world titles in classes such as Soling, J/24, Mumm 36, Farr 40 and RC44. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul he took silver in the Soling with William Baylis and Robert Billingham, and was named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.
He sailed the 1992 America's Cup with America³ and the 1997-98 Whitbread. In the 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race he led Germany's Illbruck Challenge to victory. During that race the boat set the monohull 24-hour distance record of 484 nautical miles on 30 April 2002, on leg 7, ratified by the WSSRC. He was Rolex Yachtsman of the Year again in 2002.
He raced the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race with Ericsson, then stepped down in 2007 from skippering Ericsson in the next edition for family reasons. In 2010, as tactician of BMW Oracle Racing on USA 17, he won the America's Cup against Alinghi. He was inducted into the US Sailing Hall of Fame in 2012.
