The Black Foils have not been exempt from SailGP’s offseason of change.
A humming transfer market followed the conclusion of season five in Abu Dhabi in November, with most of the teams in the fleet seeing at least one change in their crew, helped in part by the additionof Swedish team Artemis.
With the Black Foils sailing team all signed on deals that extended beyond their last campaign, team chief executives Blair Tuke and Peter Burling did not have to worry about losing talent.
They did, however, see a change in coaching personnel.
Matthew Steven and William McKenzie join the team in the high-performance unit as the new season kicks off in Perth this weekend, replacing Jo Aleh and Sam Meech. Aleh left the team to focus on her role with Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup, while Meech is understood to have joined Team NZ teammates Nathan Outteridge (driver), Andy Maloney (flight controller) and Chris Draper (wing trimmer) at Artemis.
Steven and McKenzie are strong signings for the Black Foils, having worked together in the 49er class. Steven coached McKenzie and Isaac McHardie to Olympic silver in the class in Paris in 2024, and Tuke told the Herald the team was bolstered by the additions.
“They’ll fit into that head coach role and into the booth operations. Really happy with where that’s landed and that wider high-performance unit,” Tuke said.
While McKenzie is a proven talent on the water, Tuke was excited by the prospect of the 28-year-old’s technical input first and foremost.
Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie claimed silver medals in the 49er class at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo / Photosport
Along with his sailing nous, McKenzie has a degree in mechanical engineering and will have technical input and data input in his role
That said, Tuke wouldn’t rule out the possibility of McKenzie learning some of the on-water roles in the future as the team looked to build depth in their ranks.
“He’s an engineer, he’s very smart and we think he can add a lot to how we improve in between race weekends and trying to decipher the data faster, look at the trends across how people sail on the boats, how people are making decisions around the racecourse,” Tuke said.
“He’s a really good addition, him sitting alongside head coach Matt there. But, you know, we’ll just see how it goes. We want to keep trying to increase the pathway opportunities and we need to start building depth in the sailing squad.
“First and foremost, he’s there in the booth position, but we’ll see how it develops over the year and as William slots in.”
The Black Foils head into the Perth event in the enviable position of having a settled crew who have had plenty of time on the water together in an F50 foiling catamaran.
After finishing on the podium in each of the last three seasons, Tuke said they would be looking to make an early mark in a venue new to the league, but one that is expected to serve up testing, breezy conditions.
“We’re really fortunate that we’ve got a stable unit through the sailing team that continues on from last year. That gives us a lot of confidence building into this year, I think,” he said.
“Last year, especially the start, was quite a growth phase for us as a team where we embedded some new personnel, namely [flight controller] Leo [Takahashi], into the group and he did a great job throughout last season, just built and built. Now we go again now with a stable unit on the sailing team.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
