Peter de Ridder is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 businessman and sailor

Sailor

A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...

. Born in The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

 on May 18, 1946, this amateur sailor has beaten the world’s best sailors, such as New Zealand’s Dean Barker or Russell Coutts

Russell Coutts

Sir Russell Coutts, KNZM, CBE is a competitive sailor. His achievements include a Gold medal in the Finn Class in the 1984 Olympic Games, winning the America's Cup four times, the ISAF World Youth championships, three World Match Racing Championships, numerous international match race wins and...

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Among the international titles Peter de Ridder has in his prize cabinet are: Admiral's Cup

Admiral's Cup

The Admiral's Cup is an international yachting regatta. For many years it was known as the unofficial world championship of offshore racing. The Admiral's Cup regatta was started in 1957 and was normally a biennial event which was competed for between national teams. However the event was not...

 1999, One Ton European Championships 1988 and 1997, IMS European Championships 1997, Mumm 30 Champions in 2004 and 2005, 2nd runner-up in Farr 40 World Championships in 2005, 3rd place in the TP52 Global Championships 2007, and Winners of the Breitling MedCup 2006, both in the pro and amateur categories.

Peter de Ridder is also the founder and skipper of the Mean Machine team

Mean Machine Sailing Team

Mean Machine is the name of the yachts and the sailing team owned by Dutch Businessman Peter de Ridder.The team has a core of crewmembers who’ve been with the team for the last 15 years...

, and has been sailing at the helm of this successful team since 1985.