Opposite: Dave Perry with crew Peter Worcester and Tom Kinney collect the Prince of Wales Bowl in 1982 after winning the first of five US Match Racing championships. And in the coach boat (above) doing the knife and fork thing with US Finn representative Zach Railey before the medal race at the 2008 Beijing Olympic regatta where Railey took the silver medal behind Ben Ainslie… obviously
focus was group dynamics. I probably use it every day.’ But his very first job, at a marine retail store, was ‘the worst nine months in my life – and the last time I’ve ever done business.’ He soon discovered a much better fit; teaching weekend racing clinics in one- design fleets around the country. ‘It was great. They all got better together: the back of the pack and the front.’ In 1978 Peter Isler asked Perry and
Dellenbaugh to join his Soling campaign. It was at the 1980 Soling Worlds in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that they learned about the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics. ‘A guy says “Perry, you guys are boycotting the Olympics.” I thought it was just a goof! He hands me the newspaper – all in Spanish. So I go to somebody who speaks Spanish: What does that say? “Oh, this says the US is boycotting the Games.”’ Dave rearranges himself in the arm-
chair, still visibly annoyed four decades later. ‘I have no problem with the US government giving no money to sport. But then don’t use us as your political state- ments. In the old days they used to stop wars for the Olympic Games.’ He takes another bite of sandwich,
chews and moves on to his next adventure. In the early 1980s the only real sailing jobs were as a sailmaker’s hired gun. ‘You’d go sailing with a customer and listen to them rant about how bad the jib was, as they were crashing into every wave and sailing in bad air, and you couldn’t turn around
52 SEAHORSE
and tell them, “Well, actually it’s not the jib, it’s you.” No fun.’ So instead he organised more racing
clinics. ‘I’m a compulsive teacher. And I could say to the drivers, “Look, you’ve got to get better.’’ That dark-eyed stare be - comes even more intense. ‘Our sport com- pletely undervalues education. Completely.’ After so many years’ teaching sailors, I
tease, hasn’t he found a fix for that yet? ‘Fix is a pretty strong word,’ he replies. But ‘any- one who’s spent time with a good coach always says, “Wow, that was really good.”’ In 1981 Dave bought a Snipe (the
second of those two boats he’s owned). The racing was fun, but it made him realise that ‘I still have the itch, to see if I can get to the Olympics.’ He borrowed back the 1980 Soling and signed on Brad Dellen- baugh as a teammate. Ed Trevelyan joined them for the 1982 Soling Worlds where they finished third; ‘that just launched us.’ Back in the US, Dave continued to
combine racing and teaching. Before driving to a Soling North Americans in Texas, ‘I’d get on the phone (or maybe telegram, I forget how we communicated then) and line up clinics that would basi- cally pay for the trip.’ He also met Betsy, his wife, at a Thanksgiving soccer game in 1982. Back at the house, ‘I was on the piano, and suddenly she sat down next to me and started singing away.’ After a first kiss (they still debate who initiated it) and a couple of dates Dave
invited Betsy to join him for a trip around the world, financed by coaching gigs with the Japanese and Swedish Olympic teams. It was toward the end of that trip that Dave realised, ‘I’d be crazy not to marry this girl.’ So, while watching sunset near the Arc de Triomphe, ‘I said, ‘Hey, what do you think about getting married?’ She went, Yes!’ He grins. ‘We celebrated 35 last week. My job there is: just don’t screw it up.’ Dave offered to give up his Olympic
campaign, but instead they scheduled the wedding for after the LA Games and he continued training. ‘We had a great team, but it was a deep US Trials,’ Dave says, quickly rattling off impressive names: Robbie Haines, Buddy Melges, Dave Curtis, Dave Chapin, Ed Baird, Larry Klein. He shakes his head, as if to dislodge the remorse: ‘We were leading going into the last race. And we were the only team with no letters on our score.’ But the 10-race trials included two
throw-outs, so Robbie Haines’ team was able to discard a DSQ and an OCS. ‘Great sailors – and they won the gold medal,’ Dave reminds me. ‘I love ’em dearly. And those guys sailed a good last race…’ Looking back, Dave blames one crucial
personnel decision for that painful second- place finish. ‘My biggest sailing regret was not committing to sail with Moose [McClin- tock] in the summer of 1983,’ he says. Instead, they went for a third with more Soling experience. When Ed Trevelyan left
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