America’s Cup: Emirates Team New Zealand confirm new additions to sailing team

In the new America’s Cup cycle, the defender’s development is extending beyond their boat.

Already with a new-look sailing squad tasked with defending the Auld Mug in Naples in mid-2027, Emirates Team New Zealand have added two more young local talents to their sailing ranks.

Serena Woodall and Helena Sanderson have been added as fulltime members of the wider sailing group, adding to a host of young Kiwi talent in the ranks.

“Serena and Lena have clearly shown their talent and drive to get to where they are today in the sailing team,” Team New Zealand chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge said.

“But looking at the bigger picture, the really pleasing thing is this illustrates the development of the pathways that have been put in place over the past four or more years in the America’s Cup are really coming to fruition. When looking at the young female and male talent coming through, I think the team, and America’s Cup as a whole, are leading into an exciting new era.”

Woodall and Sanderson are the latest additions to the sailing team, after Australian Iain Jensen was confirmed in late January.

The pair have been working with Team New Zealand on a trial basis with a focus on the Women’s America’s Cup campaign, which they are expected to play key roles in.

“To be brought into the sailing team for the 38th America’s Cup is a pretty surreal experience,” Woodall said.

“We’ve been through quite a big trial period over the past few months and now to officially be part of the team is a really cool moment. We’ve learned so much over the past few months, just starting to get stuck into it all. Can’t wait to get to work.”

Joining the wider sailing squad for the main America’s Cup team will not impact their availability for the women’s team and the pair could feature in racing when Team New Zealand take to the water in Cagliari for next month’s preliminary regatta.

The event on the Italian island of Sardinia will allow teams to enter two AC40 crews; one made up of sailors from the main America’s Cup team and another of youth (25 and under) and women’s team sailors.

That second team could, in theory, be fully crewed by female sailors if two of them were 25 or younger.

“I think it’s an awesome time to be a female in the sport at the moment,” Woodall said.

“I guess we’re really fortunate to be stepping into that phase. It’s pretty incredible that Emirates Team New Zealand are taking us on board in a fulltime role. It gives us more experience and exposure, so to now get that opportunity to dig in and learn as much as we can to really bridge that gap and hopefully come the end of next year, come the next campaign, we can be challenging on a performance level as well.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.