This weekend’s Harken Young 88 National Champs saw a “slight” change of pace for one of NZ’s best known cup sailors. They are amongst the high calibre fleet of fifteen one design keel boats.
The newest crew to join the fleet are “Team Barker” as the new owners of Dangerzone taking over from “Team Marsh” (Brad and Robin Marsh) in March.
Dean’s parents had a Young 88 which he grew up racing and cruising and Dean and Mandy are keen to give the latest generation of Barker sailors the same opportunity. Getting to the Nationals crew max weight limit has also made space for oldest daughter Mia to join the crew, alongside a crew of Dean’s friends, all either current or ex America’s Cup sailors.
Images and article courtesy of Live Sail Die.
“It was great to get back out on the water to race in the Young 88 Nationals. Dangerzone has a complete new inventory of Doyle sails with the latest design of the Structured Luff jibs. This gives the boat so much versatility across the wind range and made the boat very competitive in all conditions. I couldn’t be happier with the way the boat performed with the sails literally straight out of the bag. Huge credit to the team at Doyles” Dean Barker