CUP BLOG: HISTORY MADE AS JO ALEH BECOMES THE FIRST WOMAN CREW ONBOARD AN AC75

That it should be Jo Aleh that makes history, is no surprise in New Zealand yachting circles. For her entire sailing career, she has pushed the boundaries of women’s sport becoming one of the most decorated female Olympians in history. Success though, was signalled from a very long way back. Having started out in a little Optimist dinghy in 1995 at the Ponsonby Cruising Club, a move into the popular P-Class saw her write her name for the first time in the history books with a win at the Tanner Cup in 2002, the coveted New Zealand youth inter-provincial sailing competition. In doing so, she became the first woman to do so – a feat matched in 2010 by current ETNZ sailor Erica Dawson.

A move to the Byte Class of dinghies saw Jo’s arrival on the international stage in 2002, winning the Youth & Open divisions at the prestigious Youthfest in Canada, before moving into the Laser Radial class with ambitions of Olympic glory. Ahead of the campaign, she rounded out her successful youth career with a silver medal at the IYRU Youth World Championships in Poland in 2004. With the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on the horizon, Jo was ranked as one of the top female sailors in the world, but in 2007 she joined forces with Olivia ‘Polly’ Powrie in the 420 World Championships that were being held in Takapuna, New Zealand and won the regatta with a day to spare. It was the start of a remarkable sailing relationship.

In Beijing, Jo finished seventh but doubled-down on her Olympic efforts, switching to the 470 class with Polly and by the London 2012 Olympic Games their pre-regatta results had them as one of the favourites. In the medal race it came down to a straight battle with Great Britain’s Hannah Mills OBE and after the British pair failed to cover Jo and Polly on the first leg, they sailed to Olympic glory, winning the race and securing gold. The following year, 2013, Jo and Polly (nicknamed ‘Team Jolly’) were crowned as 470 World Champions in La Rochelle, France and were also named as ISAF World Sailors of the Year.

With the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games of 2016 on the horizon, 'Team Jolly' set a new goal, but the regatta was one where Jo had to show her real fighting spirit, coming through the fleet after a disqualification for being over the line in one race that they won. Despite that, they were the stand-out performers through the opening races with no less than four race wins. Securing the silver medal was something special as Jo described: “It feels like it means more because we’ve had to fight for everything, not everything went the way we wanted it to, and we’ve just battled and battled. From where we were half-way through the event, it seemed like an impossibility, so we’re really happy.”

Jo’s final Olympic attempt was at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 where she was flag-bearer for New Zealand at the Opening Ceremony memorably holding the nation's flag high on a barge down the River Seine. Sailing with former ETNZ sailor Molly Meech in the 49erFX class, the pair finished seventh in what was a weather-determined regatta.

The inaugural Women’s America’s Cup beckoned immediately after Paris, and Jo was appointed as skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand in the AC40 fleet that saw six challenger teams compete alongside six invited teams in two separate leagues. ETNZ made the final six, finishing fifth overall, improving throughout the regatta.

With Emirates Team New Zealand focussing very much on the future, Jo’s appointment to the team for the 38^th America’s Cup was confirmed in October 2025. Talking at the time she said: “This has been a dream of mine for a long time. I had a great time being part of the team last year at the Women's America's Cup and to now have the opportunity to step up into the AC75 as part of the full sailing team is super exciting. Obviously, the 38th America’s Cup is going to be a real milestone for women in sailing and I feel very privileged to be a part of that and hopefully to be one of the first women racing on the AC75s and illustrating that we can do this.”

As for her role onboard the AC75 for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup, skipper Nathan Outteridge who welcomed Jo onboard as a vital component, commented:“She's monitoring the performance of the boat and the trim of the sails. I think one of the cool things about this Cup is now we've got that fifth person who can get involved in different parts, so definitely focused on trimming the sails and really sort of helping us. We're pretty heads down trying to make the boat go quick so it's a good set of eyes. You probably didn't see her peering over the side too much, but looking at all the performance data, so I guess over the next couple of months, we're going to start to really define how that role's going to work, but it was great to have her on board today.” 

The history maker has just made history again. Jo Aleh has always been a pioneer in sailing. Today she proved it again as the new era for women ushered in for the Louis Vuitton 38^th America’s Cup begins.

Magnus Wheatley