Luke Parkinson ‘pumped’ to take flight on-board Emirates GBR for new season

Volvo Ocean Race Winner and three-time America’s Cup athlete Luke Parkinson is returning to the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team for the 2025 Season. Parkinson, known as Parko to the team, will be on-board the F50 as Flight Controller, with the task of keeping the race boat above the water to reduce drag and increase speed. Parko has been in the crucial position with Emirates GBR since Season 2, and is widely regarded as one of the best Flight Controllers in the sport.

The 34-year-old from Perth, Western Australia, is the second crew member to be announced, joining Neil Hunter who will be in the Grinder 1 position. The full team line-up will be announced in the lead-up to the first event of the new season, the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas on 23-24 November.

Parkinson said: “I’m pumped to be back with Emirates GBR for the new season, there’s more boats and new T-Foils, so it should be some pretty exciting racing. The new high-speed foils will bring lots to learn and tweak, and it will be a race to get to the top in terms of making the most of those. Hopefully we can get some good breeze in Dubai and crack that 100kmh speed barrier. We are raring to go and looking forward to our home-from-home event.”

Parkinson began sailing in a mirror dinghy at the age of five. He has since gone on to compete in one Red Bull Youth America’s Cup (2013), three America’s Cups (AC35 in 2017, AC36 in 2021 and AC37 in 2024) and two consecutive Volvo Ocean Races (2014/15, 2017/18). His first taste of America’s Cup racing came in the 2013 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in San Francisco with Objective Australia Team and his first Cup campaign was with Artemis Racing for the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda. Artemis Racing progressed to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final where they were defeated by the eventual winners, Emirates Team New Zealand. During his first Volvo Ocean Race, with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Luke was one of only two under-30’s onboard and after 10 months of intense racing, they came away winners.

After the AC35 in Bermuda, he returned to Ocean Racing for the 2017/18 edition, with Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag. Parkinson returned to the America’s Cup in 2018 with INEOS Team UK where they made it to the Prada Cup in Auckland, 2021. For the 37th America’s Cup, Parkinson was on-board INEOS Britannia’s AC75, Britannia, as a Cyclor. Parko transitioned to a Cyclor due to his fitness level and power potential. In 2023, he completed the Barcelona Ironman in nine hours, 51 minutes and 53 seconds, placing him 76th out of 2,290 competitors. He went on to make history with INEOS Britannia at the most recent America’s Cup in Barcelona, by becoming the first British team to enter the America’s Cup Match in 60 years, and the first British team to score points in the Match in 90 years.

With two crew members now revealed, Emirates GBR has four more spots left on its F50. The team will make further announcements ahead of the new season, which will see a UK event return to the calendar on 19-20 July 2025.