Sitting down with Joey Newton

Published on September 8th, 2026 In this episode of Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast, the double Olympic gold medalist and host Shirley Robertson sits down with one of the sport's big name trimmers as Australian multiple America's Cup campaigner Joey Newton shares his life as a professional sailor. A regular on the pro-sailing circuit for decades now, the young Joey Newton grew up miles from the coast, in central Queensland, but was quickly drawn to the sport. By 2000, he was sailing in his first Cup, and campaigned in every edition since, until finishing in the Auckland 2021 Cup: 'There's a small group of us that did those Cups and were so fortunate to have sailed all those classes and have been through from the Version 3 Cup boats…the Version 5 monohulls, the huge multihulls, and the start of the foiling boats and then to finish off…on a version of (the current America's Cup boats).' As a child, Newton professes to have grown up obsessed with sailing, and remembers as a five year old, witnessing a moment that would go on to live in America's Cup folklore: 'I distinctly remember being pulled out of bed and stuck in front of the TV and (my Dad) was like 'You should watch this' and it was the final run of Australia II and Liberty, and I still remember it.' The pair discuss Newton's progress through early days of sail design, and the pathway to becoming a professional trimmer, through the match racing circuit and the pressures of needing the prize money, to the early days of his America's Cup career. Moving from Syd Fisher's 2000 Young Australia team though the 2003 Cup with One World Challenge and 2007 with Luna Rossa. By 2010, Joey was trimming one of the largest sails ever built for Cup competition as he sailed in 2010 with Oracle Team USA's USA 17 giant trimaran: 'I still kind of think in five or six knots they might be the fastest boats around….and that's when they were really cool, when they were super light. in fifteen, seventeen knots, they were terrifying!' That 2010 Cup marked Newton's first win, a feat he would repeat in the much fabled 2013 Cup with Oracle Team USA, but not before some difficult times at a fractured team under intense scrutiny..' 'With all of that going on, and the court case going on, it was literally people inside the team against people inside the team, it was horrific.' Newton remembers the approach to the Cup and disciplinary hearings that enveloped the team, before recounting the fabled comeback in that famous win on San Francisco Bay. Robertson and Newton discuss the 2013 Cup, and the difficulty of getting the AC72s foiling against the New Zealand Team, before of course getting on to the biggest comeback in sailing history…: 'I remember in our (meeting) the mood was really positive and everyone was confident and chatty and talking about what would happen in the day and we walked past the Kiwis and it was like death…I know all of those guys, they are fantastic sailors but they were already beaten by that point it felt like.' Newton talks through his move to the British team for the 2021 campaign in Auckland, before discussing the progression of the yachts competing in the Cup and Newton's current roles in the grand prix sailing scene. Part One: Part Two: Shirley Robertson OBE made history by becoming the first British woman to win Olympic Gold Medals at two consecutive Olympic Games. Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast, produced and edited by Tim Butt of Vertigo Films, is available via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, and aCast.