Having become a civil engineer (with a degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich), he was also to become an emeritus naval architect and helmsman.
And it was at the Rome Olympic Games (Naples) in 1960 with the 5.5 m IR Ballerina IV that Henri Copponex, Manfred Metzger, the yacht's owner, and Pierre Girard won a bronze medal.
Every year the Société Nautique de Genève holds the Copponex Memorial, a regatta in tribute of the deceased great architect and sportsman.
The association aims to support the conservation of Henri Copponex's work and organize various events to make it endure.
In order to conserve the work of the naval architect, the Association of AHC has for the first project to digitize all existing plans (about 700 pieces).