Australia unveil America's Cup dream team for Naples

Team Australia have unveiled their seven-strong sailing squad for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup, and it is a line-up stacked with pedigree. Four Olympians, three former Cup winners and a combined haul of 24 world championship titles and 13 SailGP crowns, all led by Olympic gold medallist Tom Slingsby.

It will be the first time any of the seven has challenged for the America's Cup under an Australian flag.

Joining Slingsby, as we already know, is a name SailGP fans will already know well, Tash Bryant, SailGP champion as strategist with the Bonds Flying Roos and a 49erFX campaigner in her own right.

Then there is Luke Parkinson, a three-time America's Cup campaigner and Volvo Ocean Race winner, who may well have had some wriggling out of the British SailGP and America's Cup camp to do before signing on.

Jason Waterhouse, a two-time Olympian and Rio 2016 silver medallist, operates as flight controller for the Flying Roos, while Tom Needham, the 2025 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff World Champion and reserve sailor for the Australian SailGP team, will be a familiar face too. It was Needham who stepped in for an injured Glenn Ashby aboard the French boat in Bermuda.

Rounding out the seven are Sam Newton and Kinley Fowler, both part of the winning Oracle Team USA crew back in 2013 alongside Slingsby himself.

The squad has just wrapped a week-long simulator training block on Sydney's Northern Beaches, testing crew combinations, communication systems and race scenarios as they begin building the shared instincts needed to race an AC75.

Slingsby, Team Australia's Head of Sailing, called it a proud moment. "We set out to bring together the strongest possible Australian sailing team, and I believe we have done just that," he said. "We made strong progress, but selection is only the beginning. There is an enormous amount of work ahead to ensure we represent Australia at our very best."

Team Australia represents the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club and is backed by John Winning Jr and family. The campaign is led by CEO Grant Simmer alongside Slingsby as Head of Sailing and Glenn Ashby as Head of Performance and Design.

The road to Naples begins with the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series in May 2027, with the winner facing defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the America's Cup Match that July.

Australia hasn't had its hands on the Auld Mug in almost three decades. Could this be the team that finally brings it home?