David Butler of Boothbay Harbor has been named Captain of the super yacht, Perseus, a 165-foot sailing yacht built by Perini Navi in Viareggio, Italy.

Prior to being named Captain, Butler was the Boatswain and Relief Captain on the yacht and has worked onboard Perseus since March of 2007. During the summer of 2007 the yacht was engaged in the charter business in the Mediterranean and is now chartering in the Caribbean during the winter season. Butler also served as Captain for the transatlantic passage in October repositioning Perseus from the Med to the Caribbean. That trip marked Butler's sixth transatlantic voyage.

Before joining Perseus, Butler was the First Officer on two other Perini Navi sailing yachts, Morning Glory and Lady Lauren. In 2001 he completed an around-the-world voyage on Azzura, a 100-foot Dutch built sailing yacht during which several months were spent in Auckland, New Zealand during the America's Cup races. Also during that trip they visited Aden, Yemen for refueling just two weeks prior to the terrorist attack on the USS Cole.

Butler is a graduate of Boothbay Region High School and earned his BA degree in political science from Washington College in Chestertown, Md. in 1992. He chose a seagoing career soon after graduation and worked on the Windjammers out of Camden and Rockland for a couple of summers followed by some time on the schooner Spirit of Massachusetts, full-rigged ship Rose and later anchor tugboats in the oil service industry in the Gulf of Mexico.

He moved on to the yachting world in 1999 when he joined Azzura for the circumnavigation which was completed early in 2001.

Dave is the son of Bill and Anne Butler of Boothbay Harbor and has recently put down his own roots in Boothbay Harbor with the purchase of a home which he is currently renovating.