Peter William Holmberg

Peter William Holmberg is the most famous sailor in the Caribbean. He won a Silver Medal in the International Finn Class in the 1988 Olympic Games in Pusan, South Korea. It was the first medal for the U.S. Virgin Islands by an athlete in any sport.  Since that major achievement he has been a highly recruited sailor at every level of sailing.  He has been a crew on three America’s Cup teams including Team Dennis Conner in 2000, Oracle-BMW Racing in 2003 and Alinghi in 2007 as an alternate helmsman. On his home waters in the Caribbean, he has won four Heineken Regattas, eight International Rolex Regattas, eight BVI Spring Regattas and has been the overall winner in three Antigua Race Weeks.

One of Holmberg’s specialties is match-racing.  He has won four Congressional Cups (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002), the Trofeo Challenge, the Bermuda Gold Cup, the World Match Racing Tour, Portugal Match Cup, Monsoon Cup, and the Carlos Aguilar Match Race and the Swedish Match Racing Tour Championship to name a few on his long list of victories.

  His younger days were spent racing in the highly physical and competitive Finn Class.  He was inspired as a 12-year-old when his father, Dick, raced in the 1972 Olympics in Kiel, Germany.  Peter raced in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and finished 11^th out of 36 entries that year.  He realized that winning a medal would take intense training.  Years later during an interview with the Virgin Islands Daily News, he recalled, “I had to drive back across the country (after the Olympics in LA) and had three days of thinking about it.  That’s when I formed my plan.  If I could do that with a very shoestring budget and planning, then I thought I could achieve something good with proper training.”  After winning a Silver Medal in South Korea he won a Bronze Medal at the Goodwill Games in Seattle in 1990.  He adds, “For me, everything changed.  The opportunities that came to me….. it’s given me my life.”  He is a graduate of Sonoma State University (California) with a B.A. Degree in Management.  Professionally, Holmberg continues as a professional sailor, consults on behalf of motivated clients and is a frequent speaker on sailing.

In 1990 Holmberg was the alternate helmsman along with Bill Koch aboard Matador2 during their World Championship victory in 1990.  He is a regular member of the afterguard aboard many maxi yachts.  Over the years he has won the 2011 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the 2012 Loro Piana Superyacht Cup, the 2013 Maxi Yacht Rolex cup, the 2015 Block Island Race aboard Comanche, the 2016 St. Barths Bucket Regatta, and the 2017 52 Super Series in Porto Portals.  He is also a helmsman in the J Class series (the rejuvenated America’s Cup class from the 1930s).  J Class sloops are arguably the most beautiful boats on the water.  With his enviable racing record Peter Holmberg carries a strong voice in the Caribbean and around the USA.

Gary Jobson