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Winning sailboat races may be a complex undertaking - requiring a scientist's understanding of wind and weather, the discipline to hone your physique to a boat's demands, and the ability to play a game as mentally rigorous as chess. But for Star Class sailor Austin Sperry, who heads to his first Olympic Games in 2008, success in sailing boils down to a simple key: hard work.

Sperry, who grew up sailing on San Francisco Bay, had an opportunity to gain a bird's-eye view of the work ethic of top talents in the sport at an early age. At age 14, he was sharing a starting line with Olympic medalists, America's Cup racers, and other world-class contenders as a crew in the Star class.

By 2004, he had tried twice to capture a U.S. Olympic berth. After an unsuccessful shot for the Star berth for the 2004 Games, he subsequently helped Star sailors Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter hone their skill for the Olympic Games in Athens by sparring against this American duo on the campaign's B Boat.

A trip to the Star Class Western Hemisphere Championship in the Bahamas in 2005 with his father-in-law, John Dane, wasn't fueled by Olympic ambitions, it was a regatta stop made just for fun. But a close second to Cayard had Sperry and Dane looking more closely at the potential of a father-in-law/son-in-law Olympic pairing. Successive top finishes at the 2006 Bacardi Cup (first) and the 2006 US SAILING Rolex Miami OCR (fourth) sealed the deal.

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials came down to a lethal points situation, and Dane and Sperry entered the final race with a sliver of points separating them from their closest rivals. A bullet in that race became their ticket to Qingdao.

Of that final Trials race when the pressure to perform was on, Sperry told readers of the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.): "We've been practicing for this...We predicted it, we rehearsed it."

The stress of the last Trials race pales in comparison to challenges both men faced when Hurricane Katrina hit Gulf Coast shores. Sperry had to move into a trailer for nine months as he helped Dane - whose work ethic he much admires - relocate his ship yard and employees to a new locale in Gulfport, Miss. Katrina, Sperry admits, was stressful; "Sailing, this is fun."

As an Olympic sailor with China on his horizon, life at home in Gulfport gives Sperry ample opportunity to exercise his hard-work theory. He balances life at home with his wife, Sally Dane Sperry, running his own business, a globe-trotting itinerary of regattas, and 5 a.m. mornings in the gym with Dane to prepare for the physical rigors of racing Star boats.

Thus far, the pairing of Dane and Sperry and the diligence of their effort has produced results. They are now working hard toward what they hope will be their next peak: the Olympic Regatta in Qingdao this August.

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS:

No. 1-ranked U.S. team, ISAF Star Class rankings (2007)

1st Star Class Masters Regatta, with father G. Brooks Sperry (2002)

SAILING RESUME:

2008

14th US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR/Miami, Fla.

2007

1st U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Sailing/Marina del Rey, Calif.
10th US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR

2006

1st Bacardi Cup/Miami, Fla.
1st Star Class Masters Regatta/Miami, Fla.
1st Star Western Hemisphere Championship/Annapolis, Md.
4th US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR
5th Cascais International Sailing Week/Portugal
7th Star Eastern European Championship/Naples, Italy

2005

1st Star Class King of Spain Regatta/Marina del Rey, Calif.
2nd Star Western Hemisphere Championship/Nassau, Bahamas
3rd Star North American Championships/Marina del Rey, Calif.

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