Tony Rey grew up in Larchmont, New York racing dinghies from the young age of 8 years old as he grew older, his passion for sailing grew with him and he began crewing on keelboats in the area. Tony continued to sail right through his high school and college years, making the Collegiate All American team and winning the 1990 Hobbs Sportsmanship Award before graduating and moving to Newport, Rhode Island.
Rey was successful in turning his sailing passion into a long and successful career, now a sought after professional sailor and coach. With three America’s Cup campaigns to his name, his experience in Grand Prix sailing is second to none. Tony began his America’s Cup journey with Young America in 2000 as the tactician and test helmsman. From there he continued with Stars and Stripes in 2003 as strategist and test helmsman before taking on a slightly different role as a tactician and coach with Desafio Español in 2007.
As a sailor you couldn’t wish for a more well rounded career than Tony Rey’s – during his time as an America’s Cup sailor, Tony also participated in multiple Olympic campaigns both as a sailor and coach, including traveling with the USA Sailing Team as Coach to the Athens Olympics in 2004. Not one to shy away from any sailing adventure, you will also recognize Tony’s name on the crew list on various legs of the Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Race.
Its this wealth of experience that led Tony to become a member of US Sailing’s Board of Directors, where he aims to dedicate his time to the sport he is passionate about, helping to lead the direction of the sport so it continues to prosper. “As a pro sailor on the Board, I hope to influence the pro sailing culture to be as much about learning and improving as winning, so we can help grow the sport that has given us so much” says Tony.
Newport, Rhode Island is one of the primary hubs in American sailing – with a longstanding sailing history making it both a major destination and home port, with some of the most renowned sailing and motor yachts in the world. Since 2019, accomplished Superyacht and Grand Prix Sailor Tony Rey has led the Doyle Sails Newport operations based out of the Newport Shipyard. Early 2020, has seen some exciting developments to our team and Doyle Sails are pleased to welcome Alex Clegg, Rob MacMillan and Dave MacMillan, who all joined Tony last year as the newest members of the Doyle Sails North American group.
“We are full speed ahead at Doyle Newport. We renovated the loft space here with a plan to begin large scale Grand Prix and Superyacht production, and we have been rewarded with an overflowing order book for the rest of 2021 and deep into 2022”
Currently Rey is coaching the McKillen J70 teams, Magatron and Surge, to podium results in recent events, Tony will be racing with various Grand Prix teams including the Carkeek 47 Stark Raving Mad, the Fontaine 112 Nakupenda, IC37 Gamecock, and in the TP52 Super Series with Interlodge.
“Between our Doyle Sails partnership, my racing and coaching, and my US Sailing volunteer work, there is a common thread that runs through it all. I love competing to win, I love continuing to learn what makes boats go faster, and I simply enjoy sharing our beautiful sport with our great customers, teammates, and friends”
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ABOUT DOYLE SAILS // As sailors, our obsession with sailing connects us to the water. The water is our playground, a sanctuary where we seek enjoyment, a competitive playing field where we race; it’s sometimes our home and always a place that unlocks our sense of adventure wherever that adventure might take us.
Our obsession with sailing takes us to every corner of the world and onboard every yacht. We become part of teams, share in the adventures of friends and families, sharing our knowledge and experience with those who have the same passion for sailing as we do. Sailing is in our DNA, where the water unlocks our sense of adventure. We are the custodians of a legacy that has been supporting sailors for close to four decades, and while our world changes around us, our commitment to sailors who seek the same enjoyment and adventure as we do hasn’t.
From our sailors to yours, we are your experts in sailing. Your adventure starts with Doyle. By sailors, for sailors.