Two sailors are emerging as contenders for the co-helm position aboard Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC75 Taihoro ahead of the 38th America’s Cup.
Seb Menzies and Chris Draper will share helm duties alongside skipper Nathan Outteridge during an upcoming training block on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland. The sessions are expected to play a key role in deciding who will partner with Outteridge as the team prepares to defend the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup in Naples in 2027.
Taihoro, recently unveiled at the team’s Wynyard Point base, features new Naples-blue foil arms marking the start of the “Road to Naples” campaign.
Rising Talent
Helm Hopeful — Seb Menzies of Emirates Team New Zealand during AC75 training in Auckland as the young Kiwi sailor bids for the co-helm role on Taihoro ahead of the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: Emirates Team New Zealand
Menzies, one of New Zealand’s leading young sailors, first gained national attention after winning the Optimist national championship in 2017. A year later, he claimed the 420 World Open Championship in Newport, Rhode Island, with Blake McGlashan. The pair also won the Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships in 2019.
Since moving into the high-performance 49er class, Menzies and crew George Lee Rush have become one of the world’s top teams. They won the 49er European Championship in Thessaloniki in 2025. He has also competed in the foiling International Moth class, finishing fourth at the 2024 World Championship in Manly, New Zealand.
Menzies joined the Emirates Team New Zealand pathway programme in 2023 during preparations for the Youth America’s Cup in Barcelona. “We are learning so much from the more senior guys already,” Menzies said. “It is cool to be amongst them and getting stuck into the simulator and really looking forward to getting into the AC75.”
“Just being able to sail the boat that defended the America’s Cup is going to be a big thing, and I’m very excited about it,” he added.
Experienced Campaigner
Cup Veteran — Chris Draper onboard Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC75 during training on the Hauraki Gulf as the experienced British sailor contests the co-helm role on Taihoro. Photo: Emirates Team New Zealand
Draper brings extensive America’s Cup experience to the team. The British sailor helmed Luna Rossa to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final in 2013 on San Francisco Bay, becoming the only British helmsman to reach that stage of the challenger series.
A former Olympic bronze medallist, Draper won the 49er World Championship in 2006 and the European title in 2004 and 2010. He also represented Great Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games with Simon Hiscocks, where the pair secured bronze.
Draper later joined Team Korea in the America’s Cup World Series before moving to Luna Rossa’s AC72 programme. After several years in elite foiling circuits, he returned to the Cup scene as Head of Performance for the British Athena Pathway programme in 2023.
He joined Emirates Team New Zealand in May 2025 as part of its campaign for the next America’s Cup.
