Hamish Pepper

This will be Hamish Pepper’s third Olympic Games having represented New Zealand twice before in Atlanta 1996 and in Athens 2004. Both previous appearances have been in the single-handed dinghy the Laser, and Pepper finished 10th in 1996 and 7th in 2004.

Switching to the Star in 2006, Pepper teamed up with fellow Aucklander Carl Williams to take on the double-handed men’s keelboat class. The New Zealand duo took this class littered with sailing legends by storm winning the prestigious Star World Championship in their ‘rookie year’.

A highlight in 2007 was a silver medal at the Olympic Test Event sailed in Qingdao, China in August.

Pepper’s sailing career also includes significant achievements in the keelboat arena including the Americas Cup. He was an integral part of Team New Zealand’s successful defence of the Americas Cup in 2000 and has won two match-racing World Championship, a Mumm 30 World Championship and a Farr 40 World Championship.