America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ rounds out sailing team with the next generation

Emirates Team NZ competing with two of the four crew named today in the 2024 Youth America's Cup © Ian Roman / AmericasCup

Almost a year to the day since Emirates Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup the team are back out sailing with their AC40 from their home base in Auckland. .

At the same time, the team has announced a new mix of exciting young Kiwi sailing talent and multiple Olympic medal winning experience joining the sailing team in their defence of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup in Naples in 2027.

Joining the Emirates Team New Zealand sailing team are:

• Jo Aleh
• Seb Menzies
• Josh Armit
• Jake Pye

Bringing a second wave of sailing excellence to the existing AC75 sailing team, of Nathan Outteridge, Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke, Chris Draper, and Sam Meech, the four new sailors will bring fresh energy, innovation, and skill to Emirates Team New Zealand as the team prepares to defend the America's Cup on the global stage in 2027.

Emirates Team New Zealand has been rebuilding the talent across the team from the design room, the boat shed, and the sailing team all year and the day represents one of the most exciting days for the team in the past 12 months explained Emirates Team New Zealand COO Kevin Shoebridge, "There has been a huge amount going on in the base this year, but getting back out on the water for the first time since the day we won in Barcelona, as well as announcing the exciting new sailors joining the team is a big moment."

"It is always very motivating to the team any time we bring in a new talent, no matter what the department. But for the four new sailors, they have earned their place in the sailing team through a huge amount of dedication, and as much as the America's Cup is about winning, it's also about building the future strength of the sailing team. They have raw talent, and paired with the experience of Nathan as Skipper and our senior guys, we know they and the rest of the team will make New Zealand proud," said Shoebridge.

Andy Maloney joined the team in 2016 in similar fashion as an excitingly talented young sailor. He is now Flight Controller and is respected as one of the senior leaders of the Emirates Team New Zealand sailing team. "It is awesome to have the new energy joining the team," said Maloney.

"We have brought in a group of extremely talented, well-rounded sailors who all have the skill sets to develop into top AC75 Helms, Flight Controllers, Trimmers, and Tacticians. Spending time in the simulator with this group and witnessing their talent, while passing on experience in these roles has been a really cool experience. It's awesome to see how quickly they're picking up these roles. They are very impressive."

Each of the sailors have been identified for their outstanding talent and performance in a range of classes on the global stage with Aleh, Menzies, and Armit part of the Emirates Team New Zealand Women and Youth squad in Barcelona during the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup.

Jo Aleh needs no introduction; a two time Olympic medallist winning a gold and silver medal in the 470 class and former Female World Sailor of the Year was also one of the two helms of the AC40 in the inaugural Women's America's Cup. "This has been a dream of mine for a long time," said Aleh.

"I had a great time being part of the team last year at the Women's America's Cup and to now have the opportunity to step up into the AC75 as part of the full sailing team is super exciting. Obviously, the 38th America's Cup is going to be a real milestone for women in sailing and I feel very privileged to be a part of that and hopefully to be one of the first women racing on the AC75s and illustrating that we can do this."

For Armit and Menzies, like Aleh, they too had a taste of the culture of Emirates Team New Zealand as part of the Youth America's Cup in Barcelona. Prior to that, Armit narrowly missed a medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024 with a 4th place on the IQ Foil. For Seb Menzies, his selection comes off the back of a successful year in the 49er, winning the 2025 European Championships in June.

"Last year in the Youth America's Cup I learned a lot about the team's professionalism. It's a team that I've always aspired to be a part of. So it's awesome to be part of the main sailing team and an honour being a part of the wider team," said Menzies.

"We are learning so much off the more senior guys already. It is cool to be amongst them and getting stuck into the simulator and really looking forward to getting into the AC75. Just being able to sail the boat that defended the America's Cup is going to be a big thing, and I'm very excited about it."

For Josh Armit, his time with Emirates Team New Zealand in Barcelona only fuelled his hunger and dedication to get onboard the AC75. "Looking back, I think I learned so much over that time and it really helped me a lot in my sailing in general. I came away hungry for more, the team environment really caught me and I was eager to come back and really push for more and to be a part of the team to win the America's Cup again."

Jake Pye, at just 20 years of age, joins the team as the youngest sailor off the back of two impressive podium finishes in the 2024 (2nd) & 2025 (3rd) Moth World Championships. "It was pretty epic to get the call up from Nathan, Andy, and the team and great to know that the hard work had paid off at the Moth Worlds earlier this year. Now I am here. It is such a good atmosphere with a great bunch of people all striving towards one goal. I'm ready to push with this team as hard as I can."

The sailors have already been putting in long hours on the team simulator training alongside the teams more highly experienced sailors. They are gaining invaluable experience in sailing the AC75, match racing strategy, and the technological innovation that has become synonymous with Emirates Team New Zealand.

Skipper Nathan Outteridge, himself a double Olympic medallist and multiple world champion, knows the importance of bringing through a new generation of diverse talent to maintain strength in the team.

"For us sailors in the team that are getting older, it is awesome to have some young blood in here like, Josh, Jake, and Seb but also the wisdom, experience and talent that Jo brings that collectively will really strengthen and challenge the team on how we do things. It is great to see the integration that's been happening since they have started. We are trying to share the knowledge that we've got and create depth within the sailing team, which, so far, has been going really well and I can't wait for the sailing operations to start soon," said Outteridge.

With the start of the on water program for the team's defence in Naples in 2027 the activity around the base will really start to ramp up. Like every America's Cup, the clock is now ticking fast.