Phil and Kylie Jameson spent decades competing in the America's Cup with different syndicates, but are happy to be at home in Napier watching this year's challenge from afar.
The 36th America's Cup in Auckland is the first one that neither of the husband and wife team has competed insince 1992.
Phil Jameson, who sailed in Team New Zealand, Oracle and Artemis campaigns in the past, admits it's a bit tricky watching from the sidelines.
"It's always difficult come race time, you want to be part of it, but what you forget is the 1100 day lead-up to now, never having any time off, no time with your family, living in foreign countries, and just working like dogs," he says.
Kylie, who was with Phil at Oracle and Artemis as a sailmaker before she stopped working for America's Cup teams in 2010 ahead of the birth of their first son, said she had similar feelings.
"It's much easier to watch it on the TV," she laughed.
Phil says it has been fascinating to see up close how the sport has evolved over the years, having been "in the thick of it" when the competition switched from monohull yachts to foiling catamarans for the 2010 America's Cup.
"We went from doing 10 knots upwind to 35 knots upwind in the space of a couple of years, so the whole game changed," he said.
This year's competition features foiling monohulls that are even faster again.
"There's nothing really that nautical about the things, there's only two square metres of boat in the water. The rest of it is aerodynamics not hydrodynamics," Phil said.
Sailor Phil and sailmaker Kylie Jameson watched yachting evolve over their decades of experience in America's Cup campaigns. Photo / Warren Buckland
Kylie says she is all for innovation and things moving forward, but as cool as the yachts are to watch, part of her feels like it has all gone too far.
"It's not sailing as we know it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," she explains.
After being part of Artemis's unsuccessful 2017 America's Cup campaign, Phil joined another venture which finished in 2019, by which time all the syndicates for 2021 had their teams locked in.
Then Covid-19 crippled the international yacht racing scene.
"We rely on getting on planes and going to Spain for two weeks, or Italy for two weeks, or New York for two weeks. That was our lives," Phil said.
The Jamesons didn't want to leave Napier again with their young sons, Harry and Max (now aged 11 and 8), so Phil retrained as a commercial diver last year. He also volunteers as a first responder for St John.
Kylie is a full-time mum who also chips in with a bit of coaching for her son's sailing as a parent helper.
While their focus is very much on their children now - and Phil says he doesn't think they will be back in the game any time soon - you can never say never.
