Ian Barker's search for a Star (sailor)

Ian talks to madforsailing about his plans for the next few months

Ian Barker, 49er Silver medallist in Sydney 2000 has changed tack and is about to start another Olympic campaign, this time in the Star. madforsailing have caught up with Ian to find out his plans for that all-important crew selection.

When will you be starting your crew selection and what have you laid out as the most important criteria?
I'm not going to be starting the selection until August. I sent an e-mail to all of the High Performance Coaches setting out the criteria and asking if they could forward any potential candidates' details to me. I want someone who is aged between 19 and 24 - older people tend to be a bit worn out and have all sorts of troubles with their knees - is able to sail - by that I mean someone who has finished in the top ten of a National Championships - and capable of getting up to 122 to 125 kilos.

Is height an issue?
Not really but the taller a person is the more they drag in the water. Mark Covell is 6ft 6, ideally I'd like someone slightly shorter than that.

Have you had any response?
When I sent the e-mail out I was expecting to get responses from four to five people, but I've had eleven in two weeks. Most of them are sailors, rugby players or rowers - one was in the Cambridge team for the Cambridge/Oxford race a couple of weeks ago. I've now got to start trying them all out.

When should we expect to see you out on the water?
I am aiming for the middle of September, but I'm not targeting any events as yet. Initially it will just be sailing and getting used to the boat, once we're both confident and comfortable we'll then try competing.

Aside from the Olympic sailing you're currently sailing on Nick Haig's Farr 40 Too Steamy, how's that going?
It's OK, we're a fairly inexperienced team in that we're not used to sailing together. The practising is going well though.

How do you see the Farr 40 fleet now that the Admiral's Cup is not there?
I think it was a real disappointment for the owners when the event was cancelled but they've still got the Europeans and the Worlds to aim for. The RYA are also running a stand-in regatta so overall it's not too bad.