SSL Team NZL – By Sailors for Sailors

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP... IN SAILING

15 NOV - 13 DEC 2026 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Events

Upcoming

1/8 FINALS

G1 - Race 1

11:00

02 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

NZL

SUI

R2B1

R2A2

Results

Upcoming

1/8 FINALS

G1 - Race 2

12:30

03 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

NZL

SUI

R2B1

R2A2

Results

Upcoming

1/8 FINALS

G1 - Race 3

14:00

04 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

NZL

SUI

R2B1

R2A2

Results

Upcoming

1/8 FINALS

G1 - Race 4

15:30

05 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

NZL

SUI

R2B1

R2A2

Results

See All Races

News

40 DAYS TO GO : THE ROAD TO RIO IS HEATING UP

Only 40 days to go until the SSL Gold Cup Final Series in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The countdown is on, and preparations are moving into high gear. Our shore…

DateSaturday at 14:52

THE GUARDIANS: QUIET ACHIEVERS READY FOR RIO

They don’t need to talk about what they can do. They prefer to show it on the water. Ranked 10th in the SSL Nations Ranking, New Zealand returns to the…

Date06.10.2026

Guanabara Bay: The Stage for the SSL Gold Cup 2026

From Olympic waters to the world stage of nation-against-nation sailing, Guanabara Bay will provide the backdrop for the 2026 SSL Gold Cup. From 18 November to 13 December, 40 nations…

Date02.10.2026

THE GUARDIANS

Locked and loaded

Be aware the quiet achievers of sailing

You don’t have to give your respect to the team with NZL on the sail – they will get it the old-fashioned way; they will earn it.

Anyone that has sailed against the New Zealand team will know that they do it differently in Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud.

You won’t find members of this team boasting of achievements, they simply get on with the job with absolute commitment, focus and mastery of this extraordinary sport.

The focus 100% on the job of diligently working towards being the best they can be, as a team, both on and off the water. Knowing the boat and the team and making them perform to its highest potential on the water.

Statistics

THE COUNTRY

500,000 lovers of boating
12,000 sailors
150 sailing clubs
22 sailing schools
15,000 Kilometres of coast

ACHIEVEMENTS

9 Olympic Gold Medals
7 Olympic Silver Medals
6 Olympic Bronze Medals
3 America’s Cup wins

SSL Ranking

SSL best ranked woman:Erica Dawson 56
SSL best ranked man: Ross Halcrow 11
SSL nations ranking:9th

MAIN EVENTS

Sail Auckland > 100 participants
Coastal Classic >150 participants
Host of 36th America’s Cup
Host Volvo Ocean Race stopover

All together Kiwi sailors have won 22 Olympic sailing medals – four alone from Rio 2016. On a per capita basis that is a serious statistic for this country of just 5 million.

THE CAPTAIN

LESLIE EGNOT

Leslie Egnot started sailing in Christchurch New Zealand and had an impact on sailing at a young age. She was the first female to win New Zealands prestigeous Tauranga Cup, sailed in the class unique to NZ – the P Class. At the time, it was the most competitive junior fleet in the country. Egnot progressed to the 470 class where she won a Silver medal sailing with Jan Shearer at the 1992 Olympic Games and has competed in two Americas’ Cups. She is the first women to have skippered / helmed an Americas Cup yacht. She has worked for Yachting New Zealand in a variety of roles including high performance coach, logistics manager, an Olympic selector and a member of the Olympic Committee.

“My job is to prepare the team, then turn them loose on the competition”

THE LEADERS

NICK EGNOT-JOHNSON

Nick Egnot-Johnson comes from a strong dinghy sailing background, having had great success in the Optimist, Starling and 29er classes. He discovered match racing in 2018 and since then has had a long string of great achievements with his KNOTS Racing Team. He and his team are current World Match Racing Champioins (2023) and have just finished 3rd in the prestigeous Congressional Cup. He holds multiple Match Racing and Keelboat National New Zealand titles. He and his team are currently ranked the 3rd best match racing team in the world, reaching a career best of 2nd in the world. In his spare time Nick has been sailing on various boats, including the foiling moth, TP52’s and Melges 40’s.

THE YOUTH FACTOR

All members sailing on the boat are under 30 – that’s a young team. New Zealand sailing performed superbly at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, bringing home four medals. The clear benefits of youth: strength, energy and ambition, are complimented by the experience and wisdom of the team’s co-captains who will bring the best of both worlds to this well-rounded, yet grounded group of talented sailors.

Confirmed Athletes

Leslie Egnot

Captain | 10

Alastair Gifford

Trimmer | 6

Alex Maloney

Strategist/Floater | 11

TACTICIAN | 25

BOW | 1

HELM | 8

GRINDER | 7

PIT | 3

Grinder | 4

Trimmer | 5

Tactician | 7

Reserve | TBD

Tactician | 9

Potential Team Position

1 BOW Celia Willison	2 MID-BOW Oliver Lloyd
3 PIT	4 GRINDER Andrew Roy
5 TRIMMER Jack Frewin	6 TRIMMER Robbie McCutcheon
7 MAIN TRIMMER Sam Barnett	8 HELM Nick Egnot-Johnson
9 TACTICIAN Chris Main	10 CAPTAIN Leslie Egnot
11 FLOATER Megan Thomson

BOW

Celia Willison

MID-BOW

Oliver Lloyd

PIT

GRINDER

Andrew Roy

TRIMMER

Jack Frewin

TRIMMER

Robbie McCutcheon

MAIN TRIMMER

Sam Barnett

HELM

Nick Egnot-Johnson

TACTICIAN

Chris Main

CAPTAIN

Leslie Egnot

FLOATER

Megan Thomson

SQUAD

Alex Maloney	Thomas Saunders
Taylor Balogh	Nick Egnot Johnson
Brad Farrand	Andrew Roy
George Gautrey	Zack Merton
Paul Snow Hanson	Chris Main
Alistair Gifford	Robbie McCutcheon