 Having to work very hard to get to the Olympics, Payne came 16th at the 1956 Olympics and 18th at the 1960 Olympics both in the mixed one-person dinghy event.In 1946 the National 12 was the biggest dinghy class in Ireland, which Payne would have been considered a national and international star.Later Payne would have carried on to win more National 18 class titles than any other captain, and has listed many Admiral's Cup in his accomplishments.