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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dean Raymond Barker | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 April 1973 Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
| Sailing career | |||||||||||||||
| Class(es) | IACC, TP 52, AC72, AC50, AC75 | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (1996–2015) Kansai Yacht Club (2015–2017) New York Yacht Club (2018-2021) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Dean Raymond Barker (born 8 April 1973) is a New Zealand yachtsman. He is best known internationally for his participation in America's Cup yacht races.
Barker was born in 1973 in Takapuna, New Zealand. Barker's father is the New Zealander Ray Barker of the Barkers Clothing retail chain. Dean Barker was educated at Westlake Boys High School. Barker married former New Zealand field hockey representative Mandy Smith in February 2004. They have four children, three daughters; Mia, Olivia & Isla and one son, Matteo. Dean Barker is also a major shareholder in Kiwi Yachting Consultants.
Barker sailed from an early age, starting out in Optimist and P Class dinghies, before graduating to Lasers and Finns.
Barker's first introduction to the America's Cup was in 1995 when Russell Coutts invited him to train with Team New Zealand. He opted for an Olympic campaign rather than to travel to San Diego. [1] Although he was not involved in the successful challenge, he became a permanent member of the cup defense team once the cup was in Auckland.
Because there was no defender's series Team New Zealand used high intensity in-house racing to prepare for its cup defense. Barker's skill as a match racer rapidly developed and he became skipper of the "B Boat" in these races. Although the racing was not public, and scores were not kept, it became apparent that he was at least holding his own with Coutts.
Team New Zealand went on to successfully defend the 2000 Cup 5–0, with Coutts relinquishing his normal helming role to Barker in the last race. After the 2000 cup there were multiple defections to other syndicates, most notably Coutts and Brad Butterworth to Alinghi and as a result Barker became skipper.
In the 2003 Americas Cup, the Swiss boat Alinghi defeated Team New Zealand in a 5–0 series. The subsequent internal team review left Barker's reputation intact and he was selected as skipper and helmsman for the 2007 challenge.
The renamed Emirates Team New Zealand, with Barker as skipper and helmsman, was one of the challengers for the 2007 Valencia America's Cup. Barker started Team New Zealand's quest to take the Cup back to New Zealand by winning the challengers' 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup— beating the Italian Luna Rossa Challenge team 5–0 in the final after the previous elimination of the other 9 challengers. This was the first time that the Louis Vuitton Cup had ever been won without a race loss to the opponent. This gave Emirates Team New Zealand and Barker the opportunity to race the Swiss challenger Alinghi for the 32nd America's Cup.
By winning Race 2 of the 2007 America's Cup against the Defender Alinghi, Emirates Team New Zealand ensured that the scoreline in the America's Cup would not show a clean sweep victory for the first time in fifteen years. Many experts believed Emirates Team New Zealand had a good chance of winning but finished the 2007 America's Cup with a 2–5 race defeat.
Overall the 2007 America's Cup racing was close with the final race won by Alinghi, skippered by fellow New Zealander Brad Butterworth, with a winning delta of 1 second.
Barker has participated in two defences and two challenges for the America's Cup. After the 2007 event, his record as helmsman in Finals was 3 wins to 10 defeats.
In August 2013 Barker once again skippered Emirates Team New Zealand to victory in the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup— beating the Italian Luna Rossa Challenge team 7–1 in the final. He set a Louis Vuitton/America's Cup speed record in race #7 of 47 knots (87 km/h; 54 mph).
Barker and Team ETNZ then went on to Challenge Americas Team Oracle in the 2013 Americas Cup Final and went on to lose the final. ETNZ at one point during the final series had won 6 of the first 7 races ultimately going on to lose by a score of 9–8. The largest comeback in Americas Cup history. A rift started to emerge between Barker and Team ETNZ's CEO Grant Dalton.
Through 20 September 2013, Dean Barker's record as helmsman in America's Cup Finals stands at 11–15. With only one more race win needed for Emirates Team New Zealand to secure the Cup, Dean Barker will need one more America's Cup series to break even.
Early 2015 saw Grant Dalton offer Barker a shore-based position in order to make room for a new helmsman, Peter Burling and a new skipper, Australian sailor Glenn Ashby. Barker refused to take this position and accepted the offer to become CEO and skipper of a newly formed Japanese syndicate.
On 21 May 2015, Barker was announced as CEO and skipper of the Japanese challenger, Softbank Team Japan.
Barker was the helmsman of the American Magic challenge from the New York Yacht Club to the 2021 America's Cup. The team lost in the semifinals of the qualifying event 2021 Prada Cup against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, despite a strong start in the qualifying event.
Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well as other competitions. Bertarelli had raced several smaller yachts named Alinghi previously, but 2003 was his first attempt at the America's Cup. Alinghi challenged for and won the 2003 America's Cup in Auckland New Zealand and successfully defended it at the 2007 America's Cup in Valencia, Spain. Alinghi lost the America's Cup to the Golden Gate Yacht Club and their team BMW Oracle Racing in a Deed of Gift match in Valencia, Spain in February 2010.
Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club. The team also won the 34th America's Cup in 2013.
Sir Russell Coutts is a world champion New Zealand yachtsman. He won an Olympic gold medal and skippered three Americas Cup victories in 1995, 2000, and 2003.
Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at four consecutive Games from 2000 to 2012.
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The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, two semi-finals and a final. The winner was Emirates Team New Zealand, who challenged the defender Alinghi in June 2007 for the America's Cup.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the Louis Vuitton Cup on its first attempt in 2000, but then lost the America's Cup match against the defending champion team, Team New Zealand.
James Spithill is an Australian yachtsman.
The 31st America's Cup was contested between the holder, Team New Zealand, and the winner of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, Alinghi.
The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was a match race regatta in America's Cup Class yachts in Auckland, New Zealand, during January and February 2009. Racing started on 30 January. The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was organised in association with the New Zealand Government, Emirates Team New Zealand, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland City and Skycity Entertainment Group. Bruno Troublé was Louis Vuitton's organizer and spokesperson for the Series.
The 6th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2003. The winner, Alinghi, went on to challenge for and win the 2003 America's Cup.
The 5th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2000. The winner, Prada Challenge, went on to challenge for the 2000 America's Cup. It was the first time in the competition's history that there would not be an American challenger or defender.
The 8th Louis Vuitton Cup was held during July and August 2013, in San Francisco, California, United States of America. The three contenders were Artemis Racing (Sweden), Emirates Team New Zealand, and Luna Rossa Challenge (Italy). After a preliminary round robin to determine seeding, Artemis Racing was eliminated in the semi-final round by Luna Rossa Challenge by four races to none. In the final, Emirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Challenge by seven races to one, and went on to challenge Oracle Team USA for the 2013 America's Cup.
The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June 26. The races were conducted using hydrofoiling AC50 America's Cup Class yachts, which are slightly larger than the AC45F yachts used in the 2015–16 America's Cup World Series.
The 2017 Louis Vuitton Challenger's Trophy was a sailing competition held to determine the challenger in the 2017 America's Cup.
The 2021 America's Cup in March 2021 was the 36th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. It was contested on the inner Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, New Zealand, between the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Circolo della Vela Sicilia of Italy. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's boat was Te Rehutai owned and sailed by the Emirates Team New Zealand syndicate. Circolo della Vela Sicilia's boat was Luna Rossa, owned and sailed by the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli syndicate. Both boats are AC75 class high-performance foiling monohulls, a class designed specifically for this competition. The Cup was won by Team New Zealand, 7–3.
Simone de Mari is an Italian sailor who has competed in multiple America's Cups.
The AC75 is a racing yacht used in the 2021 America's Cup and 37th America's Cup matches and planned to be used for the 38th America's Cup match. The 23 m (75 ft) monohulls feature wing-like sailing hydrofoils mounted under the hull, a soft wingsail, and no keel.
The 2024 America's Cup was the 37th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. It was contested from 12 October 2024 as a first-to-seven-wins match-race series in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, between Taihoro, representing the defender, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron; and Britannia, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron of the United Kingdom, which won the Louis Vuitton Challenger Selections Series, also in Barcelona, on 4 October 2024. It was the first time the UK has sailed in an America's Cup match since 1964.
