Man at Sea is an Alfred Dunhill’s ‘Portraits of Achievement’.
An ode to the sea and one man’s lifelong passion for sailing on it, Man at Sea follows Iain Percy OBE, British Sailor and Olympic Champion. Setting sail from Lymington in the New Forest district of Hampshire in the yacht Strega, Iain tackles the wind and the waves on The Solent strait between the Isle of Wight and the mainland England.
“The boat suddenly becomes weightless and you’re surfing. You almost become mesmerised as you catch the next wave and the wave after”
– Iain Percy
Percy competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he won a gold medal in the Finn class. He memorably received his gold medal at a ceremony on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.
He competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and finished 6th in the double-handed Star class with Steve Mitchell. The same team received a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2005 European Championships.
Percy won World Bronze in the Star Class with Andrew Simpson in 2007 and European Championship Gold in 2009. The duo won Gold in the same class of boat at the 2010 World Championships which took place in Brazil. With previous partner, Steve Mitchell, Percy won the 2002 Star World Championships in Los Angeles, and medalled in the next three world championships, winning the bronze medal in each of them.
At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing he again won a gold medal, this time in the Star class, teaming up with Andrew Simpson.
At the 2012 Olympics in London he and Andrew Simpson won the silver medal, after a tight race against Swedish duo Fredrik Lööf and Max Salminen.
Percy is a member of Hayling Island Sailing Club and sails there regularly.