Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

Nick Holroyd joins Land Rover BAR as Chief Designer

by Land Rover BAR 10 Jan 2018 17:00 GMT
Land Rover BAR's America's Cup base in Portsmouth UK © Shaun Roster

Land Rover BAR have further strengthened their challenge for the 36th America's Cup with the appointment of Nick Holroyd as Chief Designer.

Holroyd is a previous winner of the Cup with Emirates Team New Zealand, and was formerly the Technical Director at Softbank Team Japan for the 35th America's Cup. The appointment follows rapidly after the arrival of multiple America's Cup winner Grant Simmer as the team's new CEO; both will start permanently with the team in Portsmouth later this month.

Ben Ainslie, Team Principal and Skipper commented, "I'm really excited to be working with Nick again. It's fantastic he's agreed to join the team. Adding his skillset and experience to our technical line up has greatly strengthened our challenge to win the 36th Americas Cup."

Originally a University of Auckland graduate in Mechanical Engineering, Holroyd began to specialise in sailboat racing with an MSc in Maritime CFD and Applied Mechanics at the University of Southampton. He followed that with an 18-year stint at Team New Zealand, beginning in 1997 as a foil designer and naval architect for the team that won the 30th America's Cup in Auckland in 2000.

He became Technical Director in 2007 and stayed with the team through to June 2015, in which time Team New Zealand twice won the Louis Vuitton Cup (2007 and 2013) and in that time, he was instrumental in bringing foiling technology into the America's Cup. Next, he joined SoftBank Team Japan in June 2015 where he was also Technical Director for the 35th America's Cup in 2017.

Nick Holroyd commented, "Having previously worked with both Ben and Grant I'm delighted to be joining Land Rover BAR for the 36th America's Cup challenge. I look forward to meeting the rest of the team in Portsmouth and building on their technical strengths. We look forward to receiving more detail on the AC75 class, which promises plenty of challenges ahead."

Related Articles

Land Rover BAR did Sport Relief 2018
Completing the 24hr Grind-athon Challenge Land Rover BAR completed their epic Sport Relief challenge; a 24-hour 'Grind-athon' and 12-hour supporters disco 'Spin-athon' hosted by Bestival Founder, Rob da Bank and Longplay's Tim Weeks and Sal Nidai at the team's HQ in Portsmouth. Posted on 27 Mar 2018
Land Rover BAR to begin Sport Relief 'Grind-athon'
Over 500 participants get active for Sport Relief at Land Rover BAR Portsmouth HQ The America's Cup is a both a design and sporting competition and in the last edition human power enabled the Cup boat to 'fly' and a grinders role on-board was the 'engine'; by grinding handles that power the winch and hydraulic system Posted on 22 Mar 2018
Land Rover BAR Gladiator ready for NOOD Regatta
Land Rover BAR Gladiator will race in this weekend's NOOD regatta The NOOD or National Offshore One Design regattas are one of the foundations of the North American sailboat racing scene, attracting close to 2,000 boats and more than 30,000 competitors and spectators annually. Posted on 15 Mar 2018
Leigh McMillan back at Land Rover BAR
Mentoring the future generation in the Extreme Sailing Series Ahead of the start of this year's Extreme Sailing Series, Land Rover BAR have secured leading British sailor Leigh McMillan to be part of their 36th America's Cup campaign. Posted on 7 Mar 2018
Land Rover BAR's 24-hour Grind-athon
Support the team as their raise money for Sport Relief Land Rover BAR team members are taking part in a non-stop 24hr 'Grind-athon' at the team's Portsmouth HQ for Sport Relief Posted on 6 Mar 2018
24-hour America's Cup Grind-athon for Sport Relief
Portsmouth's iconic Emirates Spinnaker Tower to light up blue, as the clock counts down Britain's America's Cup Challenger, Land Rover BAR, led by Sir Ben Ainslie, is supporting Sport Relief by hosting a 24 hour America's Cup 'grind-athon' and 12-hour disco 'Spin-athon' led by Bestival Founder Rob da Bank and Longplay founder, Tim Weeks Posted on 28 Feb 2018
Land Rover BAR plan to recycle all five AC boats
Classic Boat Museum in Cowes took delivery of the platform last week Land Rover BAR, the British America's Cup Challenger and team to bring the Cup home, have donated their first test boat 'T1', a foiling AC45 catamaran helmed by Team Principal and Skipper, Ben Ainslie, to the Classic Boat Museum in Cowes, Isle of Wight. Posted on 6 Feb 2018
Sir Ben Ainslie on the lessons from Bermuda
America's Cup: Ben Ainslie looks ahead to Auckland and the AC75 challenges It's a little over six months since Land Rover BAR made it through to the semi-finals of the 35th America's Cup, where they were knocked out by the eventual winners, Emirates Team New Zealand 5-2. The Cup went back to New Zealand, and Land Rover BAR went Posted on 2 Feb 2018
Land Rover BAR partner with ELG Carbon Fibre
To recycle and reuse carbon fibre used during America's Cup campaigns Land Rover BAR are working with ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd (ELG) to ensure that the carbon fibre process waste and end-of-use components from their America's Cup test and race boats are recycled as far as possible. Posted on 29 Nov 2017
Land Rover BAR team respond
To new America's Cup class boat announcement The concept drawings for the new 75 foot monohull that will contest the 36th America's Cup in 2021 have been announced by the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand. Posted on 21 Nov 2017