By SUZANNE MCFADDEN
Kiwi sailing hero Dean Barker is now the undisputed king of the matchracing world.
For the first time in his rapid-fire career, Barker has topped the world rankings, leapfrogging Team New Zealand's new back-up helmsman, Frenchman Bertrand Pace.
It caps off a monumental year for 27-year-old Barker. He helmed the
black boat in the last win of the America's Cup, won the world matchracing championships in Croatia and the Congressional Cup in California, and finished second overall in the inaugural Swedish Match grand prix tour.
It has been more than three years since a New Zealander was world No 1 - Barker's old boss Russell Coutts the last Kiwi to sit at the top.
There have been major reshufflings in the latest rankings, calculated on a skipper's best eight results over the past two years.
Pace has dropped from first to fifth on the ladder, behind Danish sailor Sten Mohr, and two skippers pencilled in for the next America's Cup - former world No 1 Australian Peter Gilmour and Magnus Holmberg of Sweden.
Barker will miss out on a few bonus points this week. He is unavailable to sail in the national matchracing championships in Auckland starting on Thursday.
He flew to Florida yesterday to sail in a Farr 40 regatta.
Also in Florida - the state of the moment - is New Zealand's top women's matchracer, Amy Waring, who should start sailing in the world women's championships today.
The first day of racing was abandoned yesterday when there was no wind. Waring is ranked 30th in the world.
Frenchman Yves Parlier, sailing Aquitaine Innovations, has surged to a 69-mile lead in the Vendee Globe round-the-world race.
Sixteen of the 21 boats still in the race have crossed the equator and are charging south down the Atlantic Ocean, the steady conditions coming as a relief after the frustrations of the Doldrums.
Parlier leads from compatriot Michel Desjoyeaux in PRB.
Another Frenchman, Roland Jourdain holds third place, with the two women, Catherine Chabaud, of France, and Britain's Ellen MacArthur, lying fourth and fifth respectively.
British skipper Mike Goulding, who lost his mast on the first day of the race and had to return to port, has made good progress.
He finally got under way a week after the rest of the field, and now sits 1200 miles behind the leaders.
Herald Online feature: America's Cup
Team NZ: who's in, who's out
