Olympic sailing gold medallist Tom Slingsby first floated the idea of an Australian return to the America’s Cup as a 23-year-old rooming with teammate Glenn Ashby at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In the years since then, the idea has simmered at the back of the Sydney to Hobart and SailGP winner’s mind, nearly coming to the boil after his own America’s Cup win on Team USA’s Oracle in 2013.
“I was actively going out and seeing what I could do, and back then it felt like it was just too big an ask,” he said on Thursday.
Slingsby shared his pipe dream with long-time friend and businessman John “Herman” Winning Jr. Over the past decade, the pair, who have known each other for some 30 years, routinely discussed – and dismissed – their chances of challenging the cup. That was until now.
On Thursday, with the silver trophy known as the “Auld Mug” present at the Royal Price Edward Yacht Club in Sydney, Slingsby was announced as head of sailing for the Australian bid return to the 38th America’s Cup next year. Joining him was Beijing Olympics teammate Ashby, who will head up performance and design, as well as chief executive Grant Simmer, who was navigator on the winning 1983 Australia II.
“It’s obviously a hugely personal thing for us to always want to represent Australia at the America’s Cup. For my generation of sailing, we always felt like it’s been a pipe dream,” Slingsby said.
“For me, it’s been quite a long wait, and Glen Ashby, we’ve both been talking about this since we were roommates getting ready for the 2008 Olympics, saying ‘One day we’ll get our shot’.”
A shot at actually winning the cup remains a long way off, given the full Australian team is yet to be decided and the yacht – a hand-me-down from Team New Zealand – won’t travel to Australia before being shipped to Italy for racing next year.
The Australian team will first compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the challenger selection series that will determine who earns the right to face the defending champion Kiwis in the America’s Cup match in July 2027, in Naples, Italy.
But Slingsby is hopeful this challenge won’t be a one-off.
“It’s an uphill battle,” he said. “We won’t be on the water sailing until next year, whereas other teams have been training for a couple of years. To say that we’re going to win the cup, it’s a big statement. I think we’re hopefully going to be very competitive this America’s Cup.
“I think it’ll be very successful if we’re going out there winning races and feeling like we can win any race that we head into, but I think this is a longer-term project and I think we’re setting the foundation now for long-term future for Australia being a force to be reckoned with in the cup.”
Joining Slingsby on board will be Tash Bryant, the first Australian woman to compete in the America’s Cup outside the Youth and Women’s division. The 38th America’s Cup will be the first edition in which each crew is mandated to include at least one woman. Bryant has spent the last four years as the strategist on Slingsby’s championship-winning SailGP team.
“We spoke about the first time I remember watching the America’s Cup and watching the guys race out on the water, it was incredible,” Bryant said. “I loved watching it, but I definitely didn’t see a future or a career path for me … It’s just incredible to see what’s happening now.”
It will be up to Simmer to pick the rest of the Australian team, although many of the country’s best sailors are already contracted to other America’s Cup teams. Slingsby is hopeful they’ll be able to poach them back in years to come.
“You look at the defender, team New Zealand. They’ve got an Australian skipper and an Australian trimmer and flight controller right next to them,” Slingsby said. “Who knows, maybe they’ll come back next time.”
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