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SEASE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ONE&ONLY

TOM SLINGSBY - CHALLENGED BY THE SEA

SEASE JOURNAL

Land and Sea Stories

Tom Slingsby is one of the most accomplished sailors of his generation. Born and raised in Australia, he rose to international prominence by winning the Olympic gold medal in the Laser class at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

A multiple America's Cup winner and twice named World Sailor of the Year (2010 and 2021), he has built a career defined by technical precision, leadership, and a relentless pursuit of performance. Today, he serves as CEO and Driver of the Bonds Flying Roos, Australia's SailGP team, continuing to push the boundaries of high-performance sailing.

The face of the campaign, Tom Slingsby, brings the collaboration between SEASE and One&Only to life: his relentless pursuit of performance, his spirit of adventure, and his deep connection to the ocean perfectly embody their shared values.

HOW WOULD YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF BEYOND TITLES, TROPHIES, AND RACE RESULTS?

I’m a father first. I've got a young
family, happily married, and I get to have an amazing job that I get to do what I love. So I'm very lucky.

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WHAT FIRST MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH SAILING AND WHAT STILL KEEPS THAT PASSION ALIVE TODAY?
I think the first thing was just, the battle of, it's unlike another sport. It's not like swimming, where you're up against a time, or running, or tennis, where you're sort of restricted to the confines. I just love being out in nature and going out in the ocean and dealing with Mother Nature. And I think the reason I love it so much is you're never going to win against Mother Nature, but it's just that challenge - always just sort of battling the elements and whatever the weather throws at you, you've got to adapt. And not only are you competing against the weather and doing the best you can, but then you're competing against your competitors as well. So I just love that how dynamic the sport is and unique it is.

TRAVEL IS PART OF A SAILOR'S LIFE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DISCOVER THE WORLD THROUGH THE SEA?

I've been so fortunate, getting to travel for over 20 years as a professional sailor, and I've seen unbelievable places around the world, and just being on the ocean and on every different ocean around the world and different lakes, and I just think I'm so blessed to do something like this, and, I kind of live the ‘endless summer.’ I'm spending summer in Australia and then summer in Europe and I get to go to amazing destinations, doing what I love.

I've been so fortunate, getting to travel for over 20 years as a professional sailor, and I've seen unbelievable places around the world, and just being on the ocean and on every different ocean around the world and different lakes, and I just think I'm so blessed to do something like this, and, I kind of live the ‘endless summer.’ I'm spending summer in Australia and then summer in Europe and I get to go to amazing destinations, doing what I love.

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SAILING IS ONE OF THE OLDEST FORMS OF COMPETITION. WHAT STILL MAKES IT FEEL MODERN AND RELEVANT TODAY?

Yeah, it is. America's Cup is the oldest sporting trophy in the world, and we still compete for that today. But then with the evolution of technology, we now have boats that fly across the water with the introduction of hydrofoiling into our sport. It's really changed the sport, and now we're dealing with the latest type of technology, and we get to use that on the water, and what we're doing with Sail GP and the America's Cup, it's really like Formula One on water. So, it's changing with the times, but it's still got that heritage of being one of the oldest sports in the world.

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Yeah, it is. America's Cup is the oldest sporting trophy in the world, and we still compete for that today. But then with the evolution of technology, we now have boats that fly across the water with the introduction of hydrofoiling into our sport. It's really changed the sport, and now we're dealing with the latest type of technology, and we get to use that on the water, and what we're doing with Sail GP and the America's Cup, it's really like Formula One on water. So, it's changing with the times, but it's still got that heritage of being one of the oldest sports in the world.

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FROM OLYMPIC GOLD TO SAIL GP, YOUR CAREER HAS BEEN ABOUT PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE. HOW DO YOU STAY CALM WHEN EVERYTHING MOVES SO FAST?
When I was young and a tennis player, I remember I used to choke when the pressure came on in the finals, and I remember the coach said to me, why do you lose this match in the final when you would beat this guy in the 1st round? And I said, it's because I'm nervous. And he said, you shouldn't be nervous. You should be the butterflies that you're feeling, that's not nerves, that's adrenaline. And you should learn to love that feeling, because when you're retired from the sport (he was talking about tennis at this stage).. He said, you're gonna wish you could go back to that moment and feel those butterflies again, because that's the reason you do sport is to be put in those positions and to embrace it. And so that's always stuck with me. That was about when I was 13 years old, and now whenever I do feel that position, whether it was racing for Olympic gold medal, or the America's Cup, or any of these high-pressure situations, I really just try to embrace it. And when I feel those butterflies, or any of my team feel those butterflies, I say, but that's not nerves. That's the reward. That's a reward because of all the hard work you've done to get here. So, whenever I'm in that position now, I sort of hit my teammate and say, let's enjoy this and have fun because this is the moment, these are the moments we started sport to feel this feeling.

YOU LEAD A TEAM IN ONE OF THE FASTEST SAILING COMPETITIONS IN THE WORLD. WHAT DOES LEADERSHIP MEAN TO YOU WHEN EVERY SECOND COUNTS?

I'm fortunate to lead a very successful team and I think for me, I just have to put my trust in the experts in their field. So I might hire a fly controller or a wing trimmer or a manager or something like that in my team and the reason I've hired them is because I believe they're the very best in the world in their specific field. I think an important thing is to give them the freedom to do what they do best, and not to micromanage someone, to give them the tools they need to be successful. I think it's really trusting your teammates and letting them have and truly feel the freedom to do what they need to do, and I think if everyone in the team has that freedom and they don't feel like someone's looking over their shoulder. That when they're going to get a better result. So we've been successful doing it that way and hopefully we stay that way.

I'm fortunate to lead a very successful team and I think for me, I just have to put my trust in the experts in their field. So I might hire a fly controller or a wing trimmer or a manager or something like that in my team and the reason I've hired them is because I believe they're the very best in the world in their specific field. I think an important thing is to give them the freedom to do what they do best, and not to micromanage someone, to give them the tools they need to be successful. I think it's really trusting your teammates and letting them have and truly feel the freedom to do what they need to do, and I think if everyone in the team has that freedom and they don't feel like someone's looking over their shoulder. That when they're going to get a better result. So we've been successful doing it that way and hopefully we stay that way.

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