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Austin Sperry

Austin Sperry

Sailing
EMS Group
Gulfport, Miss.

Wind and water have landed Austin Sperry not just in the Olympics but in business, too. He’ll be sailing in the Olympics with his crewmate and father-in-law, John Dane III. But to Sperry, the real action is at his $500,000, 10-person mobile home company, EMS Group, back in Gulfport, Miss. “I look at sailing as a job. I look at the other business stuff as what I love to do,” says Sperry. Maybe that’s because the class of boat he races, the Star, is known as “the torture rack” thanks to its huge sail, long boom, and narrow waterline. Or maybe it’s because Sperry was introduced to mobile homes in somewhat unusual conditions: After Hurricane Katrina, Dane bought 100 units for employees of his yacht-building company, and Sperry worked to get them set up. “I was driving front-end loaders, laying down pipes,” says Sperry. “I also lived in a mobile home myself, since I lost my own home in the hurricane.” To Sperry, building a business and racing have plenty in common. “I just enjoy being part of a team,” he says. “I love the thrill of competition. I hate losing even more than I like winning.”