| Spain. America’s Cup: The legend Dave Perry rules advisor and afterguard coach |
|
|
|
| Monday, 23 October 2006 | |
|
Bert Willborg: He is the recent US match racing champion. He is also the coach for the afterguard and the rules advisor for Victory Challenge. We are talking about Dave Perry, 52. ”He is a world authority on rules, has a solid experience in match racing and very good analytical ability. For us, the choice of Dave was absolutely clear”, says Magnus Holmberg, skipper and helmsman. There is no doubt that Dave Perry is a living legend when it comes to rules on sailing. The three books he has written on the subject are absolutely necessary literature for any sailor at the top level: ”Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing”, “Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes” and “Winning in One-Designs”. He and Victory Challenge’s afterguard – the decision-makers on board the boat – were tested together during the summer’s pre-regattas within the frame of the 32nd America’s Cup. Mutual approval arose. ”Victory Challenge is a magnificent team”, says Dave Perry. ”He has all those qualities we need in a rules advisor and afterguard coach, as well as being a pleasant person”, says Magnus Holmberg. America’s Cup will be decided by match racing and even if Victory Challenge’s afterguard consists of match racing sailors of the highest level (Magnus Holmberg has been ranked first in the world), coaching and rules advice are necessary. Dave Perry’s latest 20 years have been focused on educating and coaching sailors; he has held hundreds of seminars in the USA, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil and Canada. He is one of 50 chosen to be included in the Sailing World Hall of Fame. Yet another of the exclusive crowd in the Hall of Fame is Victory Challenge’s German Frers Sr. who is the boat designer together with his son Mani Frers. German Frer Sr. was designer for the Italian Louis Vuitton Cup winner Il Moro di Venezia 1992. The rules advisor for Il Mori di Venezia was – Dave Perry, who before that was also involved in Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes when it reclaimed the world’s most prestigious sailing trophy for the USA in 1987 (after Dennis Conner being the first American to lose it, in 1983 to Australia). ”As a sailor I was on the top of my game in 1982 – 1984, then came a family, with a great wife and two great children in between. I chose to become a teacher instead", says Dave Perry. Among his other merits from his sailing career there are two wins in the Congressional Cup (1983 and 1984). He also first became the US match racing champion in 1982. ”Starting to work with Victory Challenge inspired me to try the US match racing championship again. I wanted to show that I could still win”. 24 years after the last championship win, he took the title again. That was on October 8, 2006. When the news reached Victory Challenge’s team in Valencia, the applause was spontaneous. www.victorychallenge.com |
|
| Last Updated ( Monday, 23 October 2006 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|