Kevin Shoebridge is a four-time winner of the America's Cup. Vastly experienced, he is known for his quiet demeanor, clear communication, collaborative management style, and ability to get things done. "Shoebie" is currently in his tenth America's Cup campaign of a 40-year career.
Kevin joined the Michael Fay-led New Zealand Challenge in 1986 as a sail trimmer for KZ-7 KIWI MAGIC for the 1987 America’s Cup cycle in Fremantle. The Kiwis had won 38 consecutive races in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series before being beaten by STARS & STRIPES in the Finals.
Kevin rejoined the New Zealand Challenge in 1992, sailing as a genoa trimmer aboard NZL-20, which controversially did not progress beyond the Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. His Lion NZ/Steinlager 2 skipper, Peter Blake, joined the NZ Challenge to assist with management in mid-1991. Shoebie stayed with Blake when he and close associate Alan Sefton formed Team New Zealand from the foundation of the Cup campaigns led by Michael Fay.
Kevin was again back in a genoa trimmer role for New Zealand’s first America's Cup victory, in San Diego in 1995. He and his team won again in 2000, defeating LUNA ROSSA to achieve the first-ever successful Cup defense outside the United States.
With Peter Blake's departure and the Kiwi team's partial breakup after the 2000 America's Cup, Kevin joined One World (USA) for the 2003 America's Cup in Auckland. They were eliminated in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals.
He rejoined Team New Zealand in May 2003 in his current senior management role after Grant Dalton took over as CEO following the ignominious loss to Team Alinghi in the 2003 defense. Shoebie worked in a management partnership with Dalton and was responsible for the sailing operations as the team was rebuilt. The now Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) was the Challenger for the 2007 America’s Cup, held in Valencia. Alinghi defeated the Kiwis 5-2.
As a co-leader of ETNZ, Kevin supervised the design, construction, sailing operations and logistics as the Cup transitioned after Valencia from monohulls to the AC72 wing-sailed foiling catamarans. The operations group became noted for its lateral thinking which developed the breakthrough foiling 72ft multihull instead of a displacement design contemplated by the AC72 class rule. In 2013, ETNZ faced Oracle Team USA in the longest-ever America's Cup match, the outcome of which was decided by the 19th race with Oracle prevailing.
But that bitter loss did not stop ETNZ. Instead, the team returned with more innovations and determination. By using advanced performance prediction/simulation tools and cyclors, the team gained the winning edge in the 2017 America's Cup. ETNZ used the same performance tools to develop the radical AC75 foiling monohull class for the 2021 and 2024 America's Cups. The team successfully defended the Cup in 2021.
For the 37th America's Cup, Kevin remains the Chief Operations Officer—a role he has held under different job titles for 20 years—of one of the most successful teams in Cup history.
