David John Barnes (27 April 1958 – 23 October 2020) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

sailor, and three-time 470 world champion.

Early years

Born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, Barnes was educated at

Tawa College Tawa College is a state coeducational secondary school located in Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand. The school opened in 1961, and primarily serves students in Tawa and the surrounding suburbs. A total of students from Years 9 to 13 attend the sc ...

. He married Karen in 1986, and the couple had three children.

Sailing career

Barnes skippered the KZ1 yacht which lost to the United States in the 1988

race.

Later years

Barnes was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

. In 2013 he became involved with ''Kiwi Gold Sailing'', a group of paralympians attempting to qualify a

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

for the 2016 Paralympics. The team included fellow America's Cup veteran

Rick Dodson Richard Dodson (born 19 February 1959) is a visually impaired New Zealand sailor. He has won several world championships in sailing, including but not limited to two America's Cups and an Admiral's Cup. Dodson also competed in the 2016 Summer Pa ...

. However, Barnes' condition worsened and he withdrew from the team in 2014. Barnes died on 23 October 2020, aged 62.

Career achievements

* 1973 Won the

Tanner Cup The Tanner Cup is a New Zealand youth inter-provincial sailing competition. One under 17 year old sailor from each region competes in P Class yachts. The competition is named after George Tanner, who donated the trophy, and was first sailed in ...

and

Tauranga Cup The Tauranga Cup is an annual New Zealand national open sailing competition for under 17 year-olds, sailing P Class dinghies. Many of New Zealand's top sailors have competed in and won the Tauranga Cup, including Dean Barker, Chris Dickson and ...

PClass * 1974 Won the National Championship Starling Class * 1975 Third in World Youth Championship 420 Class * 1976 Third in World Youth Championship Fireball Class * 1976 Reserve for the Olympics 470 Class * 1981 Won the World Championship 470 Class * 1983 Won the World Championship 470 Class * 1984 Won the World Championship 470 Class * 1985 NZ

Challenge in Perth/Skipper KZ5/Alternate Helmsman KZ7 * 1987 Skipper for KZ7/won the 12 metre Worlds in Sardinia * 1988 NZ America's Cup Challenge in San Diego/Skipper of KZ-1 New Zealand vs Dennis Conner's catamaran Stars & Stripes US-1. * 1992 NZ America's Cup Challenge in San Diego/Tactician to Rod Davis/One of four directors for the campaign * 1995 America's Cup Challenge with One Australia/Testing Helmsman/Part of "Fluid Thinking" design team * 1996 Employed by James Farmer QC/Organised and supervised construction of his Mumm 36 Keelboat/Skipper for the campaign * 2000 America's Cup Challenge with America True/Skippered one of the boats through the testing program/Conceptual Director * 2003 America's Cup Challenge with GBR/General Manager

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, David 1958 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Wellington City New Zealand male sailors (sport) OK class sailors World champions in sailing for New Zealand 470 class world champions People with multiple sclerosis People educated at Tawa College 2003 America's Cup sailors 2000 America's Cup sailors 1995 America's Cup sailors 1992 America's Cup sailors 1988 America's Cup sailors 1987 America's Cup sailors