Series 4 - Ep10 - Dean Barker Part 2

Part 2 of this month's podcast that sees Shirley Robertson talk to one of the sport's most recognisable talents, as New Zealand's Dean Barker reflects on a career spent chasing the illusive America's Cup.

In Part 1 the pair discuss his formative years growing up in Takapuna, Auckland, and coming to the attention of Russell Coutts, the helm of a New Zealand team that would go on to successfully challenge and then successfully defend the America's Cup.

Part two of the podcast kicks off with chat about the marathon Challenger Series in 2007 which saw Barker helm Team New Zealand to twenty seven wins from thirty two matches, to reach another America's Cup match.  Barker and Robertson then go on to reflect on the remarkable events of San Francisco 2013, a Cup that saw Emirates Team New Zealand concede eight losses in a row against eventual winners Oracle Team USA.  The build up to the 2013 Cup was a remarkable period of development that had seen Barker's Team New Zealand innovate in the extreme, the end result, the fast, powerful fully foiling AC72 that stunned sailing fans across the globe...:

"To say the boats were under control would be a massive over statement, they were so hard to manage on that reach across from the start to the turning mark off St Francis Yacht Club...the speeds and the power and everything, and how out of control you felt at times...you're thinking if it goes wrong here, we're going to be picking up pieces off the waterfront here in San Francisco!"

The result of the 35th America's Cup is well documented, and is much talked about from many of the protagonists here on Robertson's podcast, but the effect of the very public loss on Dean Barker has been profound, a fact that he discusses with Robertson as he looks back on what was a difficult time.

Bringing his career up to the present day, Barker also discusses the campaign with American Magic, at home in Auckland, along with a cautionary tale of his fight with colon cancer throughout the build up to that Cup.  This edition of the podcast is another fascinating look into the life of one of the sport of sailing's biggest names, Barker's honesty and sincerity adding significantly to stories from a long and remarkable career.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact podcast@shirleyrobertson.com.