America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ bolsters sailing squads with two new sailors
by Hamish Hooper. Emirates Team NZ 15 Apr 15:01 AEST
Emirates Team New Zealand sail their AC40's in Auckland © James Somerset/ Emirates Team New Zealand
The road to the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup has gained two formidable new talents as Emirates Team New Zealand has added Serena Woodall and Helena (Lena) Sanderson to the sailing team.
As part of an ongoing trial period over several months, both sailors have transitioned into full-time roles, where they will be central to the team's Women's America's Cup campaign while integrating into the wider sailing squad.
Serena Woodall's journey to the team began on the beaches of Waiheke Island, where she grew up. Entering the sport at age 12, her path was notably distinct from the traditional Olympic dinghy routes typically seen in New Zealand. Woodall honed her skills through the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Youth Training Programme and later the Women's Match Racing World Tour.
Reflecting on the surreal nature of her inclusion, Woodall said, "Being brought into the sailing team for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup is a pretty surreal experience."
"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 in this time, and just want to get stuck into it all. Being part of it for the past couple of months, you realise how important the role every single person plays in the whole team."
Hailing from the Bay of Islands, Lena Sanderson discovered her passion for sailing through the sense of adventure and freedom the ocean provided. Sanderson has always been driven by a curiosity to find marginal gains and push performance limits in any class she has sailed, including the foiling Nacra and Waszp classes.
"Emirates Team New Zealand is a team that I grew up idolising and that really inspired a huge part of my own sailing journey over the years. I'm really excited to be a part of the team, not only from the women's role in learning to master the AC40 for the Women's America's Cup, but also learning how to fast-track up to the AC75 and how I can best support the team along the way. It's been a pretty incredible atmosphere to slot in over the last few weeks and just figuring out the different projects to get excited about and learn to help out with supporting."
Emirates Team New Zealand Flight Controller and Sailing Team Manager Andy Maloney, who has played a central role in the recruitment of Sanderson and Woodall, said, "It's been inspiring to watch Serena and Helena jump at the challenge of learning to sail the AC40. They have both quickly soaked up the team's knowledge around foiling monohulls and their feel onboard the AC40 was intuitive from the get-go. Serena and Helena are great additions to our sailing team and it's an exciting challenge we have ahead of ourselves now."
Technical proficiency is a major focus for the new recruits as they master the AC40 and the sophisticated simulator which have been critical in the creation of such strong pathways for youth and women sailors. These pathways represent a transformative era for the next generation at the pinnacle of world sailing in the America's Cup.
"Serena and Lena have clearly shown their talent and drive to get to where they are today in the sailing team," said Emirates Team New Zealand COO Kevin Shoebridge.
"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 emphasises the importance of this moment for the future: "I think it's an awesome time to be a female in the sport at the moment. I guess we're really fortunate to be kind of just stepping into that phase. To now get that opportunity to really be thrown at it all, we can dig in and learn as much as we can to really bridge that gap. Hopefully, come the end of the year and come next campaign, we can be challenging on a performance level as well, because we've had the experience and had the exposure now."
As Woodall and Sanderson look toward a "super exciting year and a half," their goals are clear: to become experts in foiling technology, support the AC75 development, and ensure Emirates Team New Zealand remains at the pinnacle of world sailing.
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