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

G4 - Race 1

15:30

02 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

R2D2

R2C1

ARG

NZL

Results

Upcoming

1/8 FINALS

G4 - Race 2

11:00

03 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

R2D2

R2C1

ARG

NZL

Results

Upcoming

1/8 FINALS

G4 - Race 3

12:30

04 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

R2D2

R2C1

ARG

NZL

Results

Upcoming

1/8 FINALS

G4 - Race 4

14:00

05 December 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

R2D2

R2C1

ARG

NZL

Results

See All Races

News

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE TEAMWORK

In sailing, individual talent can take you far, but in team racing, it is the connection between sailors that can make all the difference. That is why teams from around…

DateThursday at 09:35

100 DAYS TO GO: THE ROAD TO RIO IS GETTING REAL

It feels like only yesterday that the first teams were arriving for training, the qualifiers were getting underway and the SSL Gold Cup journey was beginning to take shape. Now,…

Date11.08.2026

A MONTH FULL OF SAILING ENERGY IN GRANDSON

Throughout August, the SSL Training Centre in Grandson, Switzerland, is becoming a meeting point for teams from around the world. Nations arrive, step onboard the SSL47s and spend days training…

Date08.08.2026

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 Taylor Balogh	2 MID-BOW
3 PIT George Gautrey	4 GRINDER Josh Wijohn
5 TRIMMER Alex Mitchell - Barker	6 TRIMMER Alistair Gifford
7 MAIN TRIMMER Chris Main	8 HELM Nick Egnot Johnson
9 TACTICIAN Paul Snow-Hansen	10 CAPTAIN Leslie Egnot
11 FLOATER Alex Maloney

BOW

Taylor Balogh

MID-BOW

PIT

George Gautrey

GRINDER

Josh Wijohn

TRIMMER

Alex Mitchell - Barker

TRIMMER

Alistair Gifford

MAIN TRIMMER

Chris Main

HELM

Nick Egnot Johnson

TACTICIAN

Paul Snow-Hansen

CAPTAIN

Leslie Egnot

FLOATER

Alex Maloney

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