Glenn Ashby was supposed to be in the Model Room at the New York Yacht Club on Friday 16 October, inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame alongside the late Lowell North, Peter Isler and the Beken of Cowes family. A family issue kept him away. Ever resourceful, he was beamed into the ceremony on a live link, wearing a full dinner suit, and accepted his honour from former Cup winner Gary Jobson.
Ahead of that dinner, we caught up with Ashby for an update on Team Australia's progress adapting the AC75 Te Rehutai, the boat Emirates Team New Zealand sailed to victory in 2021 and which the Australian team has since acquired. The timeline is tight, but boatworks are on schedule.
"Really, really good is the answer. I actually got back just from New Zealand yesterday. I've been over there for the week. The painting of the boat has just been completed, so all the retro fit for the composite work for all the hull has just been done about a week ago, and then it's gone straight into paint. It looks amazing. I'd love to be able to tell you what it looks like but it's a bit of a surprise!"
Next up is structural testing, rolling the boat upside down onto a jig and jacking it up to full load to make sure the modifications hold. "I think the Team New Zealand guys are really keen to do that," he said. After that comes a heavy electronics and hydraulic fit-out, with everything needing to be finished by Christmas.
"We're really needing it all to be done by Christmas time so it can go on the ship and actually start shipping across with all the equipment and containers and rig and everything from Southern Spars, over to Naples. So, it should arrive hopefully in February."
A recent social media post showed an excited Ashby visiting the boat at the Emirates Team New Zealand compound, revealing a new stern section very much in the current style of Taihoro and her sister ship of La Roche-Posay Racing Team.
"Basically what we've done is effectively cut the back corners of the boat off and got rid of all the runner structure that was in the back of the boat, changed all that. And it's made the boat lighter and we had to pull a bit of weight out, but aerodynamically, the boats are better with the tucked in transoms and lower weight, so it was a bit of a win-win and we made it better aerodynamically as well, so we've basically had the full transom adjustment, if you like."
There's a new bow too, built to meet the construction-in-country rule.
"And obviously the new bow has gone on as well to meet the constructed in country rules and that was built at McConaghy Boats up in Gosford, just north of Sydney, then shipped across and glued on a couple of months ago. We took a little bit of weight out of the bow as well by taking out the bobstay and all the bowsprit material and structure that wasn't necessary for the new rule. We managed to pull enough weight out to get it down to meet the rule, which was a big job, actually but the ETNZ guys did a great job, really, really good."
Ashby's history with Emirates Team New Zealand runs deep. He won the Cup with them in 2017 and defended it in 2021, and the team later backed him in setting a new wind-powered land-speed record of 140.17 mph aboard the bespoke Horonuku in 2022. Asked whether that history earns him preferential treatment now, Ashby laughed it off but was generous with his praise.
"The relationship has been incredible, and their workmanship and their attention to detail is really second to none. They're absolute pros at what they do, and really for me, the ability to be able to make it to the start line in Naples is largely due to Team New Zealand being able to sell us a design package and then help execute the modifications on Te Rehutai into the class legal 75 hull. They've been incredible, and I think that relationship, I guess, and knowing all the people that I'm dealing with really well has certainly been a great help and I think they've really enjoyed the process as well."
"You talk to the boat builders and the designers that have changed the boat, and they've all been absolutely stoked to be involved with the project and for them to give that boat another life, really a third life, not a second life, a third life after they used it. They're all absolutely stoked and I think it's really turned into a great boat. I think they're all very proud of it, as much as we are."
When Team Australia confirmed its entry to the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup, the squad announcement followed quickly, led by Olympic gold medallist and America's Cup winner Tom Slingsby. The question on everyone's lips was who would partner Slingsby on co-helm.
Ashby kept his cards close to his chest. "Yeah, that's a good question. We've actually got some really good cover there, and we're actually mixing things up at the moment. We've got Jason Waterhouse, Tom Needham, Kinley Fowler, Sam Newton. We're actually doing full rotation through a lot of the guys at the moment, so we haven't actually locked any of those final positions in as yet, as we're doing a lot of testing on the simulator and we'll probably have an announcement on that, probably over the next month or so, I'd imagine."
A couple of names did stand out when he was pressed further. "Tom Needham, and Jase Waterhouse are pretty handy. But we haven't locked anything in as yet but they're both going really well. And Tash Bryant, she's actually giving the boys a real run for their money as far as the capabilities going. So, we're very fortunate. We've actually got a really solid group in the sailing team side. Stand by on that one."
Asked how large the scale of the challenge is to get the boat up to speed, Ashby drew a direct line back to his early days with Team New Zealand.
"I think after being involved with our camp with Team New Zealand in 2017, that 2015 and 2016 period where we were super late. The team nearly folded, and then we rebuilt the team. We had a super short runway. This campaign, it mirrored a lot of that. You need good people, you need to have belief, and you need to make good decisions right from the start of the program to have a chance of being successful. So that's really what we've adopted is that mantra of we've got a short runway, but we need to make all our decisions count. And I think the people that we have involved are certainly experts and we all get along really, really well. I'm under no illusion that it's a monumental task, but I know the path up to the top of the mountain so it's just a matter of crawling my way up as quickly as I can at the moment!"
Team Australia have remarkable backing from John Winning, a champion sailor himself, plus the extended Winning family. Ashby reflected on what that support means for Australia's return to the Cup.
"I think for him to be in this position where he's effectively founded the team, to get on the map again for Australia, I think he really does feel a great sense of satisfaction knowing that he's been able to be the one to move all of Australia to get back on the map after, it'll be 27 years since Australia was last involved with Young Australia with Jimmy Spithill and the young guys, and he feels a great sense of satisfaction, I think. There's not many people in the world that have the ability or the want or the desire to do the America's Cup, and he certainly does. So we're very fortunate here in Australia that he's stepped up to the plate and his family as well."
"It's a big effort, and we're just putting all the pieces of the puzzle together as best we possibly can to do as well as we possibly can with a short runway next year. And John's a big part of that, for sure."
Ashby leads a squad with talent everywhere, and they will be tough to beat in Naples.
