Barker looks forward to the test of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series

8:25 PM Sat 24 Jan 2009 GMT

'A focussed Dean Barker needs every inch of his height to see over his crew during practice for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series' Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

Dean Barker says it's not the Kiwi way to spout on about it ... but deep down he believes he's the best sailor in the world.

Better than Brad Butterworth. Better than Russell Coutts. No1. End of story.

'I have never been one to blow my own trumpet and stand up and say I am the best in the world. I like to go out and prove that on the water. But on any given day I can beat them, so,' he says, pausing to think about his words. 'Yes, I guess that means I think I'm the best in the world.'

On Saturday, we will start to get a clearer picture on whether he's correct when all three Kiwi sailing greats go head-to-head on almost identical America's Cup class yachts.

A sight that Dean Barker is keen for his opposition to see throughout the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series - Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

Months, and in the case of Coutts, years of frustration will be vented during the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. While the America's Cup is in legal limbo, this regatta is a welcome chance to bring together the world's best sailors.

Team New Zealand's fate rests on Barker's shoulders, as does his own reputation.

Barker is recognised as one of our best helmsmen in the sport but to many he has never fully emerged from the considerable shadow cast by his more august peers, Coutts and Butterworth.

His extraordinary skill is his ability to intuitively extract, in tandem with the yacht's trimmers, boat speed. Coutts has it too: the ability to squeeze something extra out of a boat that can become the difference between winning and losing.

In this series, all the boats will be tuned to the same specifications so that performance is as close to identical as possible. That means the difference will come to how well they are sailed.

For the rest of this story from the Sunday Star Times click here

by Sunday Star Times

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