Dean Barker to sail against Emirates Team New Zealand - Updated

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com on 22 May 2015 The new Japanese Challenger for the America's Cup, SoftBank Team Japan has announced that it has signed Dean Barker, who has been appointed skipper and CEO of the Japanese team.

The statement from the team notes that Barker brings over 15 years of America’s Cup experience to the Japanese team, including having sailed in four America’s Cup Matches.

“This is an incredible opportunity to build a new team from the ground up,” Barker said from Bermuda where he and team general manager Kazuhiko “Fuku” Sofuku have been meeting with America’s Cup officials.

“It’s an honour to take on the responsibility of both CEO and skipper of SoftBank Team Japan.

“We’re filling the key roles on the team as quickly as we can. I think we’re pulling together a very strong team. We want to compete at the head of the fleet and we’re assembling a team that is capable of doing that. Our goal is to win the America’s Cup.”

SoftBank Team Japan was confirmed as a challenger earlier this month. The team has a big job list ahead as it prepares to race at the first America’s Cup World Series event in Portsmouth in July.

“In the short term, our job is to be ready to compete in Portsmouth,” said Fuku. “Then, our focus will shift to trialling more Japanese sailors as we continue to build and develop our team.”

Barker split with Emirates Team New Zealand earlier this year after he was offered the role of Performance Director, a role he believed was largely an off the water one. He had expressed a clear wish to continue helming for the 35th America's Cup.

He will compete in July in Portsmouth in the AC45F class - a one design version of the AC45 class, fitted with one design, supplied foils. It is not announced as to who will make up the crew, whether it will be Japanese (only one crew member of the club's country is required), or if he will pick up Australians from Oracle Team USA, or trigger an exodus from Emirates Team New Zealand.

Barker's presence on the water competing against his old team, will add some vital needle to a competition which, with the exception of Emirates Team New Zealand, has become very chummy with the Defender working with and supporting many of the Challengers. The tradition of the event is for the Defender to first come up against the successful Challenger in the Match itself.

In taking the role of skipper and CEO Barker becomes one of several people involved in the 35th America's Cup who will be both CEO and sailing on the boat either as a helmsman or tactician. Barker's former boss Grant Dalton was widely criticized for running the same double act in the previous Cup.

With the first event in the America's Cup World Series scheduled for Portsmouth, England, on July 23, Barker has some options regarding crew. In the short-term the Defender may provide some of their mostly Australian crew, and recently engaged Tom Johnson from the Volvo Ocean Racer Team Vestas Wind. Other options are to pick up English speaking crew from Luna Rossa who were released when the Italians shut up shop after the America's Cup class was changed by majority vote of first time Challengers and the Defender. Another option is Emirates Team NZ crew who have not been re-signed after the team announced a scaled down program earlier this year, which triggered Barker's departure from the team.

SoftBank Team Japan have said that they will hold trials for Japanese sailors to join the team. Red Bull pre-empted this exercise earlier in 2015 holding a series of races to rank young Japanese sailors sailing foiling catamarans. Top New Zealand youth sailor Leonard Takahashi-Fry, who holds a dual passport for New Zealand and Japan, finished third in this event after nosediving at 32kts in the semi-finals.

Barker, along with Oracle Team USA's Jimmy Spithill are equal second in terms of America's Cup races won with both having 11 each on their scorecard.

To see Dean Barker's interview with Paul Henry on the Paul Henry Morning Show on TV3 click here

Dean Barker's record in the America’s Cup

1995 - trains with Team New Zealand
2000 - America’s Cup winner with Team New Zealand, helming the deciding race
2003 - skipper, unsuccessful defence of America’s Cup with Team New Zealand
2007 - skipper, winner, Louis Vuitton Cup
2013 - skipper, winner, Louis Vuitton Cup