up date : 11/21 Coming Soon... SKIPPER:DEAN BARKER NATIONALITY: New Zealander RESIDENCE: Auckland, New Zealand DATE OF BIRTH(YEAR): April 18, 1973 31years old TEAM: Emirates Team New Zealand for America'sCup2007 CREW LIST: James Dagg , Jared Henderson , Ray Davies Dean placed in a tie for 9th with three other skippers, each with 24 points, on the final 2003-'04 Swedish Match Tour leaderboard Swedish Match Tour Results: 2003-'04 4th - Bermuda Gold Cup '03 4th - Nippon Cup '03 2002-'03 No events sailed 2001-'02 1st - Swedish Match Cup '02 2nd - Trofeo Challenge Roberto Trombini '01 6th - Swedish Match Tour Rankings '01-'02 8th - Congressional Cup '02 9th - Steinlager Line 7 Cup '02 2000-'01 1st - ACI Cup '01 5th - Steinlager Line 7 Cup '01 13th - Swedish Match Cup '01 2000 1st - ACI Cup/World Championship of Match Race Sailing '00 1st - Swedish Match Cup '00 2nd - Swedish Match Tour Rankings 2000 2nd - Sun Microsystems Australia Cup '00 3rd - Steinlager Line 7 Cup '00 America's Cup Affiliation: Team New Zealand 2003 - Helmsman, Lost America's Cup 2003 to Alinghi Team New Zealand 2000 - Alternate helmsman, drove New Zealand (NZL-60) to victory in fifth and final race of America's Cup 2000 Additional Accomplishments: 1st - 1993 Asian Pacific Laser Championship 1st - 1994 NZ Match Racing National Championship 1st - 1997 NZ Match Racing National Championship 1st - 1998 Kenwood Cup, 1st - 1998 Australia Cup 2nd - 1997 Admirals Cup Additional Information: Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker has rocketed to America's Cup prominence in a remarkably short time. From a career in dinghies, during which he secured several international titles and the world youth title, his first taste of America's Cup campaigning came when he was invited to help Team New Zealand with their preparations for the 1995 campaign. He spent about five months with the team during its time in New Zealand, but declined an invitation to join them in San Diego, opting to concentrate on an Olympic Finn campaign instead. However, his keelboat potential had clearly been recognised and in 1996, Russell Coutts asked Barker to stand in for mainsheet trimmer Warwick Fleury on the international match race circuit. Grabbing the opportunity, Barker relished his introduction to top level competition. When he was invited to join Team New Zealand for its 2000 Defence of the Cup, he did not hesitate. Initially, he was part of a pool of team members serving in various afterguard positions on the two black boats as they geared up for the Auckland defence. However, Barker's match race skills were on the rise and, as he led a young Team New Zealand crew to a number of successes on the international circuit, his role began to change. Increasingly, he was given the task of helming the tune-up boat until he finally made the position his own. Out on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf, Barker's task was to provide the stiffest competition possible to the Team New Zealand race team. He quickly proved more than up to the challenge and the "B-Boat" had more than its share of victories. "There was never an official score," says Barker diplomatically. "We both viewed it as keeping the Cup. It was good for Russell (Coutts) to get beaten. The worst thing would have been for him to be able to win easily. "We are both fiercely competitive and there were no holds barred. The boats were close. There were collisions. It wasn't friendly it was all on. "We both kept our eyes on the big picture and that was the Cup. It wasn't as if I was challenging him for his position, not at all. I wanted him to be as good as he could be. The future would provide me with my chance." That chance came sooner than many people including Barker expected when Coutts offered the young sailor the helm of the Team New Zealand boat in the fifth and final match of the 2000 America's Cup. Suddenly, at the age of 26, Barker had arrived at a pinnacle most sailors never achieve and those that do only much later in life. Up against the Italian Prada crew, Barker and the Team New Zealand crew swept to victory on a rainy and blustery day in Auckland, securing the Cup defence and earning his place in the euphoric celebrations that erupted immediately afterwards. If that moment represented a high point in his rapid climb, more was to come. Annointed the future skipper of Team New Zealand for the 2003 Defence, Barker suddenly found himself in the middle of a crisis as foreign syndicates lured Team New Zealand personnel away. In the hectic weeks that followed, Barker and syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg worked ceaselessly to rally the troops and build a new team. Through all the demands and pressures of this early baptism, Barker was able to retain his match race focus and won the Match Race world title in Croatia. Barker grew up on Auckland's North Shore, which is traditionally a breeding ground for skilled dinghy sailors. His introduction to sailing was inauspicious, however. His father, successful clothing retailer, Ray Barker, bought him an Optimist, which they launched at the local Lake Pupuke, an enclosed but treacherous bit of water with radical and vicious windshifts. It was a windy day and young Dean found himself stuck out in the middle of the lake and unable to get back. Thoroughly frightened, the 9-year-old had to be rescued and New Zealand sailing very nearly lost one of its most promising new recruits on his first outing. However, over the years, his confidence grew and he graduated from Optimists to the P-Class, the famous dinghy class, which is unique to New Zealand and which has bred so many of its top sailors. His early promise was dmonstrated when he won the two top P-Class titles, the Tanner and Tauranga Cups, an achievement that automatically elevated him to a rarified group and marked him out for future success. When he is not sailing, Barker's competitive streak takes him to other quite diverse sporting pursuits. From the relative quiet of sailing, he switches to the racket and bedlam of motor racing, campaigning a classic 240hp Mk I Escort at race meets around New Zealand. He also lists "bad golf" and holidays among his other interests, neither of which get much attention as he focuses on the Cup defence. Cup Exprience: 2003: Skipper 2000: Tune-up helmsman, final race skipper 1995: Training team Career Highlichts: 2004: Athens Olympics in the Finn Class 2000/2003: Team New Zealand 1998: Australian Cup, ACI Cup Croatia, Swedish Match Cup, Trofeo Challenge Italy, Kenwood Cup, Individual Baot Kenwood Cup. 1997: Steinlager Line 7 Cup, NZ Match Racing Nationals, MRX Match Racing Champs, Admirals Cup, Southern Cross, Sydney to Hobart 1996: ISAF World Ranking Finn Class, Olympic Tials Finn, Kenwood Cup. 1995: NZ Match Racing Champs. 1994: NZ Match Racing Champs 1993: Aisan Pacific Laser Champs BACK Organizing by home | contact (C) NIPPON CUP ORGANAIZING COMMITTEE 2004 Supported by IMPRESSION CO LTD,.