Barnes helps GBR shape cup crew

By JULIE ASH

When British billionaire Peter Harrison rang David Barnes and asked his advice about setting up an America's Cup Challenge, the New Zealand sailor did his best to talk him out of it.

"I really tried to discourage him," Barnes says. "I explained all the reasons why the game was too hard and pointed out to him that Britain had skipped a whole generation of cup sailing."

But, "knowing Peter like I do now, the fact I tried to talk him out of it was the thing that tipped him over the edge," Barnes says, laughing.

Harrison, who made his fortune from telecommunications and computer networks, took what Barnes said into consideration - then promptly invited him to Britain in October 2000. From there the wheels started turning and GBR Challenge was born - the first British assault on the America's Cup since 1987.

Barnes was employed as the syndicate's general manager. His job: to teach the British everything he knew about the America's Cup. "I'm quite flattered to think they recognised the experience I have," says Barnes, modestly.

A veteran of five America's Cups, Barnes' roles have ranged from helmsman of the 1987 New Zealand entry to Director of Operations for America True 2000. With his background in engineering, experience in sailmaking and sailing, he is an America's Cup all-in-one package without the ego.

A few minutes late for the interview in the swish office of founder Peter Harrison, just down the road from the GBR Challenge base, he apologises profusely. Harrison had spent the week in Auckland and Barnes had just dropped him off at the airport. He had stopped off at the team base on the way back to check on a few things before rushing up the road. But on the way he bumped into Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker and stopped for a quick chat.

"I haven't seen Dean for ages," Barnes says. "Everyone is so busy doing their own thing you don't really get time to catch up. You see each other occasionally on the pavement but that is about it."

After just a few minutes with him it is obvious Barnes could talk for hours on any aspect of yachting.

Born in Wellington in 1958, Barnes followed his brothers into sailing. "My dad was a commercial fisherman for a while so we were always sailing or playing with boats of some description. Not long after I could walk I was in a dinghy."

Barnes' father (Bob) also owned a scientific optic company and made optics for navigation, shipping and airport lights. His workshop under the house kept the Barnes boys entertained for hours. "We didn't have a television in those days so we were always building things," says Barnes. "I spent most of my time building model boats. Trying to make them go faster with all these contraptions. Boat development's always fascinated me."

Fishing, though, didn't seem to. Although both his brothers set nets in the weekend and in the evenings and sold fish to the local fish shop, their father's routine of getting up at 4 am to go fishing put him off.

Conversely, of the three boys only David chose to pursue a career in sailing. "I hate to say it but their little brother came along and was actually better at sailing than what they were. I started beating them and they decided to go off into other areas."

While the water provided the Barnes family with many great moments, it also brought them one of their greatest tragedies. "My eldest brother Kevin died at the age of 28 in a boating accident ironically about 18 years ago," says Barnes. "He was out fishing in a dinghy and got bowled over by a freak wave and drowned. It was devastating for our family. I don't think mum and dad ever got over it."

As with most New Zealand yachties, Barnes' competitive sailing career began in the P Class when he was 9.

"I'd been sailing P Class yachts for a lot longer than that because my two brothers had them and on fine days I was allowed to go out and sail with them," be explains. "I was too little to go by myself because if it capsized I couldn't get up."

Around the time that Barnes began sailing competitively in Wellington, former Team New Zealand - and now Alinghi - sailors Russell Coutts and Murray Jones were also on the scene. "In those days all the good guys were in Auckland and then a group of us came along. It was quite a competitive time."

A national title came Barnes' way in 1973 in the P Class. Three years later he moved to Auckland, found work as a sailmaker and changed to the 470 class. "I just knew the sailing opportunities were better up there," he said. "It wasn't that home was a bad place."

The 470s was where Barnes made his mark, winning world titles in 1981, 83 and 84. However, Olympic selection alluded him. Although he was a reserve for the 1976 Games, he missed out in 1984.

In that year, however, he won the national championships, finished third in a pre-world's regatta and won the world championships. "Then five weeks later we had the Olympic trials and we couldn't do it. It was pretty sad."

Ironically Peter Evans and the notorious Sean Reeves, who has been accused of allegedly trying to sell design secrets to other challengers, won the Olympic spot, beating Barnes in a boat they had bought from him. "We basically built all our 470s," he says. "They bought the boat off us that we used in the world championships in 1981. Then we got beaten by our own boat - it was very unfortunate."

It was in Auckland that Barnes meet Karen, his wife of 16 years. "A couple of my flatmates set us up," he says. "It was hard to begin with as I was always travelling, but we soon realised we had something too good to throw away. We married in 1986 and then went to Fremantle. She has supported me in every campaign since."

Barnes' first America's Cup job was with New Zealand as skipper of KZ5 and the back-up skipper for KZ7. "All of us came from the small boat classes and not many of us had sailed anything bigger than a One Tonner," he says. "They were enormous boats to us in those days. It was a massive learning curve."

F ROM there Barnes' cup career bloomed. He skippered KZ1 against Dennis Conner's Catamaran in 1988, was tactician on board NZL20 in 1992, a training helmsman on OneAustralia in 1995 and Director of Operations for America True in 1999.

"The America's Cup is just fascinating," he enthuses."There are so many aspects to get involved in from from boat design, sail design, sailing and administration. Once you get the bug it is hard to go back to what I call the real world."

While the word defector has been thrown about to describe those who left Team New Zealand after the last Cup - it by no means portrays Barnes and his decision to sail for overseas syndicates.

"I have always talked with Team New Zealand," he says. "I've always asked if there have been any opportunities. But it's been clear that it is, 'Thanks but no thanks, you are free to go elsewhere'."

Barnes always planned to be involved in next year's cup but probably didn't expect to be putting together a challenge from scratch. "A lot of the other teams imported knowledge and plucked the centre out of Team New Zealand and that was how they started. We could have easily done that but we didn't want to go that way, that was not the point of the exercise.

"We've done it with British heritage," he says. "All of these guys would have just about given their lives to do the America's Cup."

Although loaded with Olympic sailors, Barnes laughs when he thinks back to the day he first took the British sailing. It was a matter of going back to the start - right back to the start. "The first day we went sailing in April of last year there were only three of us who had set foot on a cup boat before. We had a briefing on how to get the mainsail up and down, how to get the boat off the dock and how to pick up a tow from a chase boat. That's the level we started at."

Just four months later GBR, with a budget of around $65 million, almost upset Prada in the final of the Jubilee Regatta in Cowes. "David has been my most important recruitment," says Harrison, whose vision will be the catalyst for Britain to compete in the America's Cup for a number of years. "He has helped us accelerate all our know-how which, combined with the dedication and skill of skipper Ian Walker and the whole team, has been the major reason as to why we have made such rapid progress in just two years from a standing start."

Originally a one-boat campaign, GBR built a second shell in order to acquire a second hull number and, now have two new-generation boats ready to train with after next year's cup.

However, they decided late last year that the second boat would come to Auckland. "We discovered something in our design back in November and thought this is too good of an opportunity to miss," says Barnes, who, in a bid to protect his team's secrets, refuses to elaborate on exactly what they found. "It's incredibly ambitious with limited resources and limited time, but no one ever won the America's Cup without ambition."

Although they are progressing well, Barnes and his team know how hard the competition will be come October 1 - the start of the Challenger Series. Most would agree GBR could upset a few, but it would take a brave person to put money on them making the top four.

"You certainly have got the favourites like Oracle, Prada, OneWorld, Alinghi and Team Dennis Conner - and in order to get a semifinal spot you have to get rid of two of those guys," says Barnes. "For us it would be truly unbelievable if we could actually make the top four. We would be absolutely beside ourselves if we could do that, as we are under no illusions as to how tough the competition is going to be."

Barnes admits he is having a great time with GBR, and should Harrison be keen to continue, then he would be one of the first to sign up.

But first of all there are three other people who are patiently waiting for Barnes to show them the ropes - his children Jason (12), Sacha (9) and Logan (6), who will be watching their dad's team in action through binoculars from their home overlooking the Hauraki Gulf.

"We have a couple of Optimist dinghies at home and they have always been keen on boats and loved the water," says Barnes.

"Quite frankly I haven't had that much time to teach them - but come the end of this cup, I am sure we'll be out there Optimist sailing."

David Barnes, GBR Challenge (Britain)

Role: General manager

Nationality: New Zealander

Date of birth: April 27, 1958

Family: Wife Karen, children Jason (12), Sacha (9) and Logan (6)

Cup career: 1999 America True

1995 OneAustralia

1992 New Zealand Challenge

1988 New Zealand Challenge

1987 New Zealand Challenge

Other sailing achievements:

470 world champion - 1981, 1983, 1984

12m world champion - 1987

Admirals Cup - 1997

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