Ian Barker & Simon Hiscocks

Ian Barker was born August 10, 1966, in Cardiff, Wales, and sailed out of Penarth Yacht Club and Hayling Island Sailing Club. Before the 49er existed he was a world-championship-level sailor in the Enterprise and International 505 classes. An early adopter of Julian Bethwaite's radical 49er skiff, he earned the nickname "Captain Splash" for frequent capsizes while learning the boat — experience that paid off when he and Simon Hiscocks took silver at the 49er's Olympic debut in Sydney 2000. Barker went on to become one of British sailing's most respected coaches across five Olympic Games as both competitor and coach: he coached the British Yngling women's team to Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, coached Ireland's 49er team for Rio 2016, and has coached Germany's Tina Lutz & Susann Beucke since 2019, helping them to a 2020 European title and Olympic Silver medal. Ian remains a coach on the 49er circuit, coaching the Swiss SailGP and 49er team led by Sebastian Schneiter. Trained as an engineer and boat builder, he lives in Christchurch, Dorset, with his wife and two children.

Simon John Hiscocks was born May 21, 1973, in Dorking, Surrey. He came up through mainstream British dinghy racing (Lasers, 505s, a Fireball, 18-foot skiffs) rather than the Olympic youth pathway, with 505 World Championship starts along the way. He moved into the 49er in time for its Olympic debut, partnering Ian Barker to silver at Sydney 2000. He then switched to skipper Chris Draper, and the pair built one of the most dominant records in 49er history through the 2000s: Worlds silver (2002), gold (2003) and another Worlds gold in 2006, plus Olympic bronze at Athens 2004 — making Hiscocks a two-time Olympic medalist with two different skippers, a distinction very few sailors in the class's history share. After Olympic campaigning he raced America's Cup with GreenCom, became a leading figure in Foiling Moth racing, and founded Shock Sailing, supplying parts, repairs and brokerage for high-performance dinghies. He lives in Portland, Dorset, with his two children.