Boatbuilder plays a vital part

Chris Barker has come up with something to keep Graham Dalton on course around the world, writes ROBIN BAILEY.


Aucklander Chris Barker has spent a large part of his life in, on and around yachts. He sailed offshore at age 16 and since then the sport and business of sailing has occupied most of his life.

This month his company, Island Yacht Components, delivered to Tauranga the twin rudders that will keep Graham Dalton's new 60-footer on course as it circumnavigates the globe in this year's Around Alone race. Dalton is the first New Zealander to challenge for the ocean marathon, which starts from Newport in September.

The yacht was designed by Merfyn Owen, of the Owen-Clark design group, and is a development of Ellen MacArthur's Open 60 Kingfisher. Barker has worked closely with Owen on construction of the twin rudders for both boats. Made of high-tech carbon fibre, they look sleek and graceful but are built to handle huge loads.

Completing a long sailing and boatbuilding apprenticeship before opening the doors of his company in Glenfield, Auckland, he aims to specialise in custom building components using leading-edge composites.

Schoolboy Chris began his serious sailing career aboard Sundancer, the 40ft catamaran designed and built by his artist elder brother David. In his first race, the cat proved its speed and ability by beating 78 yachts around the Balokovic Cup course, and setting a course record 12 minutes faster than Tom Clark's 73ft Buccaneer.

The next year Sundancer set an unofficial course record in the Auckland-Fiji race, finishing ahead of the 78 keelboats in the fleet.

While completing seventh form and then beginning a degree in architecture at Auckland University, Barker continued racing.

For two years he crewed on Jim Young's NZ 37 Notre Dame, beginning an association with the veteran designer that has continued to flourish throughout his career.

From 1975 to 1977 he raced to Noumea and back, crewed Hobart to Auckland, sailed a Dunhill Cup series, and sailed to Japan on Sunbird V, a Sparkman & Stephens 55.

His first Whitbread experience was aboard Debenhams on the leg from Auckland to Rio in the 1977/78 race. He sailed on the Swan 65 sloop King's Legend for the leg from Rio to Portsmouth, finishing second overall. Following some travel around Britain, he spent a season as skipper of King's Legend in the Western Mediterranean before returning home in 1979.

His ambition was to put together a New Zealand campaign for the next Whitbread in 1981/82. The yacht was a 55ft Young design that would be called Running Bird. The project looked promising, but as the deadline for construction passed, the level of sponsorship was unlikely to produce a winning campaign. Instead, he went to England to trial on Alaska Eagle and Disqe d-Or. He joined Alaska Eagle in Cape Town for legs 2, 3 and 4 of the Whitbread, sailing the legs to Auckland, Mar del Plata and to the finish in Portsmouth.

A range of sailing, boatbuilding and photographic assignments have filled the Barker diary since then.

Barker says: "When I talk to today's Volvo Ocean Race sailors, who share sleeping bags and eat freeze-dried mush, I can smile. We had a French chef aboard Eagle and dinner was always in the filet-mignon and fine wine category."

From 1982 to 1985 he completed a range of building and sailing contracts before returning to Britain to finish construction of the Ron Holland 79ft 1985/86 Whitbread entry Drum.

The boat eventually capsized when the keel fell off in the Fastnet Race. Despite this setback, Barker went on to sail the leg from Portsmouth to Cape Town before returning to Auckland to organise the Drum stopover.

The Barker career took a turn toward graphics and design around this time and he continued his work in photography while taking computer and small craft design courses. Out of this came Depth Charge, the 8m yacht he designed and built for short-handed sailing.

He won the Yacht of the Show award at the 1994 New Zealand Boat Show, and since then has successfully raced his yacht on the harbour and two-handed around the gulf.

Barker credits his ability to move into the leading edge of custom-building to the time he spent at top composite boatyards such as Marten Marine, working on projects ranging from the 45m sailing yacht Mari Cha III to Whitbread campaign yachts.

The Whitbread veteran is keeping an eye on progress in the Volvo Ocean Race via Virtual Spectator. He will be monitoring even more closely Graham Dalton's build-up to the Around Alone.