Palfrey competed for the Australian sailing squad, as a 41-year-old crew member in the Star class, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to their maiden Games, he and 50-year-old skipper Murray secured the Australians a definite top-nine finish in their respective boat at the 2007 ISAF Worlds in Cascais, Portugal. The Australian duo stormed from behind at the very start to a fantastic runner-up finish in the midway of the series, before a streak of substandard outcomes in heavy winds, however, sent both Palfrey and Murray to the back of the 16-boat fleet. They sailed powerfully to eighth on the final leg, but their overall score was not enough to let the Aussies enter into the medal race, sitting them in a lowly fourteenth position with 96 net points.