SailGP: Top match racer and Olympian adds new dimension to Kiwi SailGP and AC teams
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 12 Nov 02:54 GMT
12 November 2024
Leonard Takahashi with Oscar Gunn (obscured) - UniCredit Youth America's Cup, Group B - Sept 22, 2024 Barcelona © Ian Roman / America's Cup
The Peter Burling/Blair Tuke led SailGP team, the Black Foils, have announced a replacement for the recently departed flight controller/trimmer Andy Maloney.
Maloney announced in late October that he would be leaving the New Zealand SailGP team to join the new Brazilian SailGP team, skippered by double Olympic Gold medalist, Martine Grael. Maloney has won three America's Cup as a flight controller/trimmer with Emirates Team New Zealand, along with Burling and Tuke. He is also a winner of the Finn Gold Cup, the premier trophy in single handed sailing, and left a big hole in both the SailGP and AC teams.
Leo Takahashi (NZL/JPN), a top match racer and Tokyo2020 Olympic representative in the 49er class will join the team on a three-season contract as Flight Controller. He was a co-helmsman and skipper of the Emirates Team New Zealand Youth AC40 team in the Youth America's Cup sailed in Barcelona. Takahashi (25yrs) is the son of Robert Fry a top New Zealand sailor, before moving to Japan, where he was prominent on the offshore racing scene, and with the Japanese America's Cup teams. At the age of 19yrs, Takahashi was ranked 25th in the World Match Racing Tour standings for skipper/helmsmen.
A graduate of the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron Youth program, Takahashi was prominent in international youth match racing in NZ, Australia and USA. He was part of an Australian led crew at the 2021 Congressional Cup, the worlds pre-eminent and oldest match racing event conducted by the Long Beach Yacht Club.
Maloney was one of three new hires announced by the Brazilian team which is one of several SailGP teams which are privately owned, and are new to the circuit this Season 5, which gets underway in Dubai in late November. The other two were Leigh McMillan a flight controller with the America's Cup Challenger INEOS Britannia, and Richard Mason who sailed with the INEOS Britannia team in the 2021 America's Cup and more recently in SailGP teams.
Several teams have announced acquisition by private ownership for amounts said to be in the USD$40-60million range or more. Their owners/managers have engaged in a recruitment exercise which has seen several abrupt movements to roles within the privately owned. Other than Maloney, the most prominent move was that of INEOS Britannia Head of Sailing, Giles Scott, who was also the skipper helmsman of the Emirates GBR SailGP team, along with his America's Cup duties.
SailGP are tipping that a prominent Australian sailor has also been enticed to join an as yet unnamed rival team.
A feature of the recruitment has been the willingness of top SailGP sailors to move to lower ranked teams, prompting the America's Cup adage "if you want the truth, follow the money", implying that generous pay-packets are on offer, and being accepted.
While SailGP has had some tight nationality rules, these have been eased for Season 5, allowing three non-nationals to sail in a team, scaling back if total crew numbers are reduced for racing in lighter winds. The easing of nationality rules has facilitated the head hunting from SailGP and America's Cup teams. The Cup teams are now in a state of limbo with the announcement in the weekend that all sailing other than in the AC40 one designs would be prohibited for a period of 12months. The next venue, Protocol and Version 3 of the AC75 Class rule are yet to be announced. The next America's Cup will be sailed in 2027, a year later than initially indicated.
A likely change to the crew rules for the America's Cup is likely to result in cyclors being replaced by battery power, but with the overall crew sailing numbers remaining the same. Takahashi's move to the Kiwi SailGP team and likely the core of the Emirates Team New Zealand sailing team, brings a depth of match racing experience to both groups. In common with the other ETNZ crew members Burling, Tuke and co-helmsman Nathan Outteridge, Takahashi has competed in the 49er skiffs at Olympic level.
It has not been announced if Maloney's shift to the Brazilian SailGP team represents his exit from the Kiwi America's Cup team. However for all professional sailors, their ability to sail in both the America's Cup and SailGP over the next three years may become rather more vexed, with the announced intention for SailGP to expand from 14 events in Season 5 to 18 events or more in subsequent seasons.
After the conclusion of racing in Barcelona, the America's Cup supremos' announced that the AC40 one design fleet will be used more extensively for preliminary racing. That competition along with the between-Cup AC75 fleet and match racing, to is essential to lift the visibility of the America's Cup teams and sponsor investment return.
If the two rival circuits' ambitions do play out - then the professional sailing calendar will become very congested - and near impossible to sail in both, particularly when testing requirements in the existing and new AC75s for the 2027 America's Cup are taken into account.
A statement released by the Black Foils says: "Takahashi was a member of the Japan SailGP Team for Season 1 and 2, as a Grinder and Flight Controller, and Season 4 saw Takahashi transition to the USA SailGP Team as Flight Controller. With a wealth of international experience so early in his career, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 25-year-old is poised to make a powerful impact as he takes on his newest challenge with the Black Foils, which includes racing in front of a home crowd at the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland on January 18-19.
“I was a bit shocked actually,” Takahashi said of finding out he made the Black Foils team. “And now I am just elated, it’s a real honour. I’m excited at what we’ll be able to achieve as a team over the next few seasons.”
On sailing with Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, Takashi says: “It’s every kid's dream to sail with their heroes, I think it's been really cool how they've taken me in and been so supportive.”
Tuke, Black Foils’ co-CEO and Wing Trimmer, said he is excited to have Takahashi join the team for a three-season deal: “It’s been a pleasure to see him grow as an athlete over the last few years and it’s fantastic to have such a young talent join our team as we continue to push the Black Foils to the next level.”
Born in Japan but raised in New Zealand, Takahashi’s career began as an eight-year-old where he learnt to sail at Murrays Bay in Auckland. He quickly began competitive sailing, competing in three Optimist World Championships. As a teen, Takahashi joined the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron youth training program and won national and international youth match racing championships.
Takahashi was also part of the Live Ocean Racing team that competed in the ETF26 series in Europe in 2022 and 2024, alongside Black Foils team member Liv Mackay. Most recently, he sailed for Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2024 Youth America's Cup.
Speaking to his passion for SailGP, Takahashi says, “It’s changing the sport and the format is really exciting to me. You can’t really look past the boats. They’re some of the fastest boats in the world, and it's going to be even more exciting with 12 boats on the line in Auckland this January!”
Takahashi’s first season with the Black Foils will kick off in Dubai on November 23-24, 2024 before returning to race in front of a home crowd for the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland in January.