Kate Stewart has joined the Black Foils as reserve strategist for the ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix, arriving in camp at Sassnitz this week ahead of the 22-23 August event.
The 27-year-old comes in good form. Last month she and Micah Wilkinson finished fifth at the Nacra 17 European Championship, the best result yet of their Los Angeles 2028 Olympic campaign, a programme she will continue alongside her new SailGP role.
Her early record is worth pausing on. A two-time Youth World Championship medallist who learned to sail at Wakatere Boating Club in Devonport, Stewart won the Tauranga Cup in 2014, becoming only the second girl to have her name engraved on the historic P-Class trophy and the first since Leslie Egnot in 1979.
She then stepped away from the Olympic pathway to complete a university degree before returning to the water in 2025. "When I left the Olympic pathway, there wasn't a long-term pathway for women like the one we have now," she said. "Finishing my degree and seeing the fantastic roles and opportunities available to women today drew me back in."
Earlier this month Stewart completed her first session in SailGP's F50 simulator at SailGP Technologies in Southampton, part of the league's athlete licensing and race-readiness process. A detail you notice in the camp schedule: the simulator hours logged before a sailor ever steps aboard an F50 are considerable.
In Germany she will work alongside team strategist Liv Mackay, with additional support from the coaches' booth when not on the water. "It's an incredible honour to be part of the Black Foils and involved with people who've done amazing things in sailing," Stewart said. "They're a strong, tight-knit group with real values and mana, and I want to learn as much as I can from Liv."
Black Foils co-CEO Blair Tuke said her performances since returning had confirmed what the youth results always suggested. "Kate's success at youth level was hugely impressive," he said. "After stepping away from the sport for a few years to focus on her studies, she has quietly returned and is already proving herself. We're excited to have such a talented sailor join the team and strengthen our depth in the strategist role."
