A Bit About Us
We created Swiss Performance Sailing in 2012 on the shores of Lake Biel in Switzerland. Since our creation we moved our operation to Lake Thun. We enjoy sailing so much that we made it our business. Chris loves engineering new ways to go a little higher and fast. Dani loves maintaining boats, so that they are clean and working properly, because we understand when one of those parts is lacking, it causes tension and poor performance on the water.
Dani & Chris Rast
Founders
Meet The Team
As a wife-husband team we push each other beyond our limits…
… and catch one another when we fall.
Chris’s background is rich in travel and competition. Together with his mother and brother he moved from the US to a small town in Switzerland in the late 1970’s. Due to his step- father’s military career, they moved regularly around Switzerland and Europe.
However, his family moved to Lake Thun and Chris found his passion in sailing. He loved the inquisitive and challenging nature of the sport. This love and a good dose of competitiveness, perseverance and talent ultimately brought him to his first Olympic Games participation in 1996. In total he competed three times in the Olympic Games, sailing twice for Switzerland (470 and 49er) and once (49er) for the USA. In 2008 Chris finished 6th in the 49er Class at the Beijing Olympic Games together with his skipper Tim Wadlow.
Chris then turned to academia and received his Masters of Business at the University of California in San Diego, which added to his Swiss degrees in both Tool Making and Mechanical Engineering.
He met his future wife Dani and they continued to sail on all types of high performance one-design boats. Before they started a family, Chris pushed the bounds in Moth sailing. Together with his long-time schoolfriend, he created the first ever deck-sweeping Moth-Rig to be used at the World Championship. With much practice (and even more boat work) he competed in the 2015 Moth Worlds in Australia and achieved an impressive 7th place.
Today he manages the successful Section 16 Marstrom 32 program in Europe and in the USA.
Dani comes from a sailing family. She grew up in Holland, Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. She fell in love with sailing when her father brought her along for Wednesday night racing on a Tripp 40. Dani loved the feeling of being an integral part of a team and every week she learned a little bit more.
She hit the jackpot when a professionally run Farr 40 program needed another 110 pounds on the rail. She experienced what it took to be in the front of the fleet, from teamwork to logistics and boat preparation.
Motivated by her sailing passion, Dani attended SUNY Maritime College where she majored in Marine and Environmental Science and received her 3rd Mate Deck license. She and her college sailing team earned a spot at the National Collegiate Regatta three times and in her senior year received one of the titles of All-American Crew.
Instead of jumping on a steel merchant ship, Dani joined the world of professional sailing. She crewed and managed a few different teams and also met her husband. Dani was whisked off to Switzerland, to the “land of a funny language” (Bernese Swiss-German).
Together they built this business and were sponsored by EFG International Bank to campaign a Melges 24 and Moth. They won many regattas, including the 2015 Melges 24 World Championship and the 2016 Melges 24 European Championship.
She is now the mother of two wonderful, healthy children and runs the back office at SPSailing.
Chris’s background is rich in travel and competition. Together with his mother and brother he moved from the US to a small town in Switzerland in the late 1970’s. Due to his step- father’s military career, they moved regularly around Switzerland and Europe.
However, his family moved to Lake Thun and Chris found his passion in sailing. He loved the inquisitive and challenging nature of the sport. This love and a good dose of competitiveness, perseverance and talent ultimately brought him to his first Olympic Games participation in 1996. In total he competed three times in the Olympic Games, sailing twice for Switzerland (470 and 49er) and once (49er) for the USA. In 2008 Chris finished 6th in the 49er Class at the Beijing Olympic Games together with his skipper Tim Wadlow.
Chris then turned to academia and received his Masters of Business at the University of California in San Diego, which added to his Swiss degrees in both Tool Making and Mechanical Engineering.
He met his future wife Dani and they continued to sail on all types of high performance one-design boats. Before they started a family, Chris pushed the bounds in Moth sailing. Together with his long-time schoolfriend he created the first ever deck-sweeping Moth-Rig to be used at the World Championship. With much practice (and even more boat work) he competed in the 2015 Moth Worlds in Australia and achieved an impressive 7th place.
Today he manages the successful Section 16 Marstrom 32 program in Europe and in the USA.
Dani comes from a sailing family. She grew up in Holland, Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. She fell in love with sailing when her father brought her along for Wednesday night racing on a Tripp 40. Dani loved the feeling of being an integral part of a team and every week she learned a little bit more.
She hit the jackpot when a professionally run Farr 40 program needed another 110 pounds on the rail. She experienced what it took to be in the front of the fleet, from teamwork to logistics and boat preparation.
Motivated by her sailing passion, Dani attended SUNY Maritime College where she majored in Marine and Environmental Science and received her 3rd Mate Deck license. She and her college sailing team earned a spot at the National Collegiate Regatta three times and in her senior year received one of the titles of All-American Crew.
Instead of jumping on a steel merchant ship, Dani joined the world of professional sailing. She crewed and managed a few different teams and also met her husband. Dani was whisked off to Switzerland, to the “land of a funny language” (Bernese Swiss-German).
Together they built this business and were sponsored by EFG International Bank to campaign a Melges 24 and Moth. They won many regattas, including the 2015 Melges 24 World Championship and the 2016 Melges 24 European Championship.
She is now the mother of two wonderful, healthy children and runs the back office at SPSailing.
“ Chris and I competed against each other for several years in both foiling Moths and Melges 20s before I relocated back to Europe. It was very natural for me to ask Chris to run my Section 16 campaign as well as join as tactical on both the Melges 20 and our then new Marstrom 32 cat. Over the last 5 years we have had a very productive campaign together winning many major titles including the first M32 European championships. Chris is highly involved in leading the management of the campaigns, boat preparation, tactician and recently as coach. On all fronts he gives it his all. The campaigns are really well organised, the boats are always immaculately prepared, his tactical capabilities are well shown by our results and as a coach he has a very discerning eye as to where to find those marginal gains. When we are down he picks us up and when we need it he also gives us a kick. Talented at what he does, fun to be with, organized and successful.”
“I have had the opportunity to sail with both Dani & Chris Rast and SPSailing, on numerous occasions. Most of the has been involving the Melges 20 and J70.
All of my events have benefited from their input in every aspect of our regatta; Regatta logistics and plan, crew and boat preparation, off and on-the-water drills (boat handling, boat speed, and crew coordination of maneuvers and communication), Strategy and Tactical race management with clear and concise communication, and boat/ rig tuning, sail trim, and maintaining boat “balance”.
This collection of professional skills is very succesfully applied to any situation with excellent communication skills, and the abiltiy to keep any situation positive, upbeat and fun…really fun! ask me about it any time!”
