Introduction
Roy Heiner (born 22 November 1960, in Virginia, Free State, South Africa) is a sailor from the Netherlands, who represented his country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Pusan. Heiner took 7th place in the Finn. In 1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona Heiner helmed the Dutch Soling. With crew members Peter Burggraaff and Han Bergsma Heiner took 18th place. Heiner switched back to the Finn for the 1996 Summer Olympics, Savannah and took the Bronze medal. His last Olympic appearance was in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With crew members Peter van Niekerk and Dirk de Ridder Heiner took 4th place in the Soling.
Sailing career
Besides his Olympic sailing career Heiner competed on professional basis in:
- Three years in the World Matchrace circuit
- Three Volvo Ocean Races,
- Skipper of Brunel Sunergy (1997–1998)
- Skipper (partly) of Assa Abloy (2002)
- Technical Director of the winning Team ABN AMRO campaign (2005–2006)
- BMW Oracle (America's Cup 2003) in new Zealand as:
- Training boat helmsman
- Afterguard coach of the racing team
Professional life
Heiner holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Durban-Westville (1980–1985). In 1996 Heiner founded his Sailing academy: Team Heiner nowadays located in Lelystad.