A fortnight after advising Olympic gold medallist Matt Wearn, champion Australian Tom Slingsby resumes his quest to win the world’s most famous sailing race in Barcelona tonight. But this time he will be representing the Stars and Stripes of the United States. The Sydneysider will be at the helm of American Magic’s in its bid to reclaim for the New York Yacht Club the Americas Cup it once had a stranglehold on until a famous Aussie upset in 1983 when the John Bertrand-skipper Australia II triumphed in Newport.
Slingsby, who won a gold medal for Australia in the London Olympics and skippers the Australian team in the SailGP series, has a US passport courtesy of his mother. “I was born and raised in Australia,” he said. “I think of myself as an Australian but if I can compete for any other country, I’m glad it’s the US and I can make my mum proud.
” Slingsby’s co-helmsman Paul Goodison, an English sailor and fellow Olympic gold medallist, describes his partner in the assault on the world’s oldest sporting contest as an “arch rival” who he has shared an “abrasive” relationship with for well over a decade. “We’ve competed against each other in the Olympic classes for the best part of 10 years (and) we were archrivals for a long time,” Goodison told . “And we’ve been through cycles of being best mates, and then very abrasive, and then mates, and then abrasive.
And it all comes from when you’re competing against somebody. “You can’t really.