The Most Innovative Sport In The World With Sailor Tash Bryant

23-year-old Tash Bryant has had a remarkable sailing career to date.

She won the Under-19 Youth World Championships at just 15 years old

and qualified her country for the Olympics at 17.

In 2022, she became the youngest member of the Australian SailGP team

and then in 2023, the youngest ever winner of the SailGP Championship

after winning the season finale with the Australian team in San Francisco in May 2023.

She has continued her role as strategist on board the Australian team for season four

with a highlight of winning the home event in Sydney in February this year.

Tash, welcome to the Female Athlete Project.

Thank you so much for having me.

We chatted off air about the fact, and Bez and I chatted about this

before we recorded the wrap earlier today,

about the fact that sailing is not a strong point for us.

So I'm very excited for, well, for me, for my learning,

but also for a lot of our listeners to kind of get their head around sailing

and to learn a little bit more about it.

But before we get into the educational side of it,

can you give us a bit of a rundown about how you first found a love for sailing?

Yeah, well, I was lucky enough to live very close to where we're recording

and I grew up on Pittwater, which is about five minutes away.

And I learned how to sail with my family and some friends on a big yacht.

And it was just a really big community experience.

And yeah, I was introduced just through enjoyment of that.

And yeah, over the years, I learned to love it.

And I was quite a competitive person growing up.

And so...

I realized that we could race these things.

And I had a younger brother who really pushed me along.

And we sailed these little boats called Optimus, single-handed.

And we used to race each other after school a lot.

And so that's where the competitiveness kind of came.

And obviously from there, I just progressed through the classes.

And yeah, I'm still doing it 12 years later.

That's very cool.

Like looking at it overall, how hard is it as a sport to learn?

Because there's a lot of, I guess, features that are out of your control

in terms of the water and the wind.

All these different elements.

Yeah.

So that's actually where I kind of fell in love with it.

I was toying between quite a few different sports when I was younger

of like what I wanted to do more full-time and really like throw myself in.

And with sailing, there's so many elements you need to think about whilst you're racing.

So it's like your heart rates up a little bit.

Some boats are more physical than others.

But yeah, your heart rates up, you're out on the water.

But you also need to think about what you want to do

and play almost like a game of chess in your head around a race course

and learn how the weather works, how the wind...

Okay.

...wind works.

And there's so many different aspects to learn.

And I always just felt like every day I could learn something new when I was growing up.

And I love that.

And I still feel the same way.

And yeah, so many things.

And that's probably one of the biggest reasons why I love the sport.

That's really cool.

Talk to us about the America's Cup because for the first time,

there's going to be a women's side of the competition.

But can you give us a bit of a history for people who might not know about the America's Cup?

Yeah.

So what I love to think about with the America's Cup is that

they really lead the way in the research.

The design of sailing as a class or as just a whole sport.

And the way we progress through with speeds or the technology in what we use.

Right now, I'm racing a boat that flies above the water

and you press buttons and don't hold any ropes,

which is crazy to think about considering what hundreds of years ago we used to do.

And the America's Cup is like a race to design the best thing that you can think of.

And yeah, the Kiwis have been pretty dominant the last few,

cycles and it only comes around every three or four years.

The way it works is whoever wins the cup gets to pretty much set the rules and what type of boat

they want you to design, where the event is going to be held.

And I'm lucky enough that the Kiwis have brought in a women's event for this next round.

That's amazing.

And so how does that work?

Like, is it you just like, as long as you fit the dimensions and certain specifications,

you can kind of do whatever you want if you put the right research in.

Yeah.

So there's a rule book.

So that.

Hundreds of pages long, like classify more detail, but there's certain in certain parts of the boat,

there's foils, there's like length of the boat specifications.

And you have like a heap of people designing for years to try and figure out what the next best thing is.

And it's really interesting.

You're only allowed to put out a few different practice designs to run.

And so, yeah, they've been testing for the last couple of years in different places.

And it's really cool to watch what they've come out with.

And sometimes there's like a big.

Hidden show.

And it's very quiet, like you're not allowed to talk to anyone.

It's very secretive.

And in your own hush hush.

Yeah.

In your own little departments.

And as soon as you get to the cup and everything's released, there's not much you can do during the cup because it's every, every day you're racing and it's a bit of a grind.

So each night that all the sailors will come home and the boat builders will continue to work all through the night to try help improve day in, day out, try to get better the next day if they find issues.

So it's wow.

Yeah.

Just constantly, constantly trying to.

Figure out what's next and what's the next best thing.

Really?

Wow.

It's quite amazing.

Yeah.

It's honestly, I like, I love sailing, but also the like research and design behind it is so interesting just to see what's coming up next and how to make the boat more efficient.

And yeah, there's so many different things to think about.

Can you talk to us about the physical demands when you're actually on the boat?

Yeah.

So there's a few different things.

Um, what we're sailing currently, we actually have two drivers and two people that we call trimmers that control the sales for us.

Um, on a traditional.

Boat, you would usually pull ropes or we do the single grinding where it's almost like you're riding a bike with your arms and you spin, spin them around and that's, they're quite physical roles, like very hard.

And, um, yeah, so you have to obviously be really strong, quite big to do them.

But, um, with the AC 40, which is the boat that is going to be in the next cup for the women, um, there's no physical roles.

Okay.

Yeah.

So it's all, um, battery powered, which is pretty cool for us because, um, sometimes our limiting factor recently.

Or over the last few years has been the size these guys we've been going up against the 90 kilo cyclists or grinders.

And so they're very strong, can put out way more Watts than we can, but like we still try now with this new technology, that's completely like, it's a full blank page for us to just start over.

And we've got, yeah, driving and trimming and that's about it.

Okay.

Interesting.

So is this, do you think moving forward a way that there can be more equality in the sport to allow women to still be involved?

Yeah, so there's much more opportunity for us now, um, I'm pretty lucky in a few of the things I sell with SailGP, especially, um, the way they've opened it up to just allow us to even get on board the boats at the start.

Um, we haven't had the opportunity in the past, so now we're really trying to push for as much as we can leading forward.

And I always thought when I saw SailGP that they potentially led the way in terms of that innovation and technology, but it's actually America's Cup that lead the way that kind of dictate what's used in sail.

Is that right?

So the SailGP boats we are using actually came from the America's Cup.

So the old boats that were raced, I think it must've been 10, 12 years ago now.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

So they were quite like at the early days of their design way back then.

Now we're still using those boats, but they've been tweaked.

So we have a lot more technology on board them now that they didn't have then.

Okay.

Um, we also sail with more people than they had then that has allowed us to get on board, women to get on board the boat.

Got ya.

Yeah.

And so it has developed, but the, the boats, um, like the hulls and everything we're using are the same.

Um, but yeah, the America's Cup is just constantly changing and growing and yeah, really just kind of guides the way.

Talk to us about the foiling element.

So like for people who don't get the boat, well, previously it was like in the water and now it's up.

Yeah.

Above.

So we have these, they kind of look really crazy when you look at them on the water.

So we almost fly above the water, but the way a foil works is quite similar to the way an airplane.

Wing would work.

So it's, it's the exact same, exact same thing.

So you have to get to a certain speed, create enough lift to get like the plane off the ground.

We need to get the boat out of the water.

Um, our wings aren't as big as airplane wings though, because the water's a lot more dense than air.

So we don't actually have to have as big a bigger wings of plane, which is great for us.

Um, but yeah, so we have to reach a certain speed to get the boat out the water.

Um, and then the faster we go, the higher it wants to fly out of the water.

So.

We have to have some sort of controller, um, on our sail GP boat.

Someone actually flies the boat and keeps it back into the water.

Wow.

Yeah.

So that's a whole job.

Anytime we're going out in the water, he sits down, his name's Jason locally from here and, um, he flies the boat.

Uh, and so that's his, his sole job, whether it's, um, on the AC 40, we have, uh, autopilot software that will detect how high we are out of the water and at real time updates and flies the boat for us.

Whoa.

This is, it's quite.

Amazing.

Yeah.

It's really crazy when you think about it, all the technology that goes into it.

Um, so could you go too fast?

Is that, is that what would get you out of the water?

Yeah.

So you, it, the faster you go, the more wants to fly.

And so you can actually change the rate of the foil.

So.

It's kind of going into a lot of technology, but you can, you can move the foil under the water with controls that will either push you further out or bring you in.

Okay.

Yeah.

So there's either someone controlling that all the time, uh, or it's on autopilot.

Which is pretty crazy.

And what speeds are we talking?

Well, um, we've been up to over 50 knots, which is about a hundred kilometers an hour with SailGP and they're doing speeds close to that on the AC 40s as well.

So racing pretty fast on average, around 60, 70 Ks.

Wow.

Yeah.

Amazing.

Yeah.

Talk to us about SailGP.

There was a pretty cool video that came out that we collaborated on.

So back in 2019, I think it was, you were involved in like a commentary role.

You were, um, trying to, well, I think, had you qualified for the Olympics at that point?

Yeah.

We qualified the country for the games.

And so I was sailing a different class.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I was trying to be involved in SailGP in any capacity I could.

Yeah.

And you handed out the medals or the trophy, was it?

Yeah.

It was, it was the medals to the Aussie team, um, at their home event in Sydney, which was actually the first ever event for SailGP.

Um, yeah.

And then, uh, this year we had a Sydney event, uh, about a month ago now and we won and I was actually racing on board, which was a pretty cool progression.

It was awesome.

To see like the contrast of the two, about four years apart of you handing out the medals to actually receiving a medal as part of the team was pretty special.

How did that feel?

Yeah.

Well, I, I remember watching them and watching the sailors on board them.

They're amazing sailors, all of them from all the teams, like the best sailors in the world jumping in one league, which is really cool to watch.

And I remember watching me, oh, I would give anything to sail on one of those boats one day, just to even have a go really.

Yeah, yeah.

And, um, yeah, lucky enough, SailGP brought in a women's path.

We're program about two years ago or maybe a bit over now, three years.

And, um, that allowed us to become more involved initially.

It just started with training days.

So we're allowed to go on training days.

We weren't racing at the start.

Um, and then it came into racing and now it's like compulsory.

Any day we got on the water, we're on board, no matter the conditions.

And so we've had quite a lot more opportunity to jump on board with these amazing sailors and on these really cool boats.

Um, and yeah, it's been just a dream really.

That's amazing.

It's cool.

You can like see your face light up, like you can tell how much you love doing it.

It's pretty special.

Yeah.

Every day I get on board those boats.

It's just, yeah, I remember watching five years ago, how long it was and, um, just remember the feeling of wanting to do it so bad.

And the first day I got the call up to actually jump on board for not even a race, just for five minutes to train.

It was just amazing.

And what do you think the importance is of having parameters in place to actually allow women the opportunity and, and young girls, hopefully the pathways to get to the point of where you're at.

Yeah, well, obviously it's a little tricky at the start because these guys had been sailing those boats for years and years, just five up.

Um, and so it was tricky to just introduce a role, no matter women or male, whoever jumped into that role, it was going to be hard because they'd already figured out how to do everything without them.

And so jumping on board was definitely interesting.

And it was really a matter of trying to figure out what are we missing here?

How can we make gains and how can you unload people or load yourself up in areas you were confident in?

Mm-hmm.

Um, and so, yeah, it was a bit, not controversial at the start, but it was just definitely, it wasn't an easy transition, but now, um, talking to everyone, it's been a couple of years, but the way we've gone about it, we've progressing the boats, they're sailing faster than they've been.

We're racing with more people on the race course than ever.

We're racing and I can almost touch boats next to us, which is pretty crazy.

Wow.

Um, and I think it's quite a crucial role now it's become, yeah, just one of the roles and no one really questions it anymore, which is what you really want.

Yeah, for sure.

But yeah, like honestly to just making the opportunity in the first place was really where it all started.

Talk to us about the America's Cup that's coming up.

When is it?

Where is it?

Yeah.

So we're racing.

It's an odd, the Kiwis won last time, but they've chosen to race in Barcelona.

Beautiful.

So the end of this year, we'll all be off to Barcelona.

A lot of the teams are already there.

Um, the actual, the rate, the racing in the big proper cup, they've been there for a couple of years now.

Some of them.

Wow.

Yeah.

They, they start all their research and design.

Immediately or sometimes even previously before the previous cup, they're already looking towards the next thing.

And so they've been set up in Barcelona for a long time training.

Um, and then the women's event is going to be just before that, um, big cup and, uh, our final event or our final race is going to be during their racing.

And so the America's Cup goes over a long period of time.

It's almost over a month, um, with races each day.

The youth America's Cup is going to be at the start of October.

Followed by.

By the women's and then the America's Cup racing is going to be after that.

It's pretty crazy.

I'm really excited.

It's going to be like a massive event and can't wait to be a part of it.

Really.

Yeah.

I'm excited to watch.

And I think it's really cool for our listeners to be able to actually understand it.

Cause I think that's a big part of what we want to do at the female athlete project is introduce people to the athletes themselves, like you, who are just killing it, but also give them kind of the tools to understand more about it.

So when they see it, they can actually engage with it and have more of an understanding.

Yeah.

Is there anything else?

That's on your bucket list.

I feel like the America's Cup is probably a big one for you to tick off in October, but is there anything else on your bucket list ahead of that?

Um, not necessarily ahead of that, but I'm slowly chipping away with it with sale, GP, um, all the other boats I've learned sailing or sailed in the past I've driven.

And I really, really would like to drive a sale, GP boat, um, race an F 50 as a driver, it would be real dream come true.

And I'm working towards it and the guys I'm racing with at the moment are awesome.

They give me every opportunity in training to learn.

How to drive, um, sometimes a little bit in the racing.

And so we're slowly progressing, but we don't have much training time.

So it's very tricky to, uh, progress when you don't have much time on the water.

Right.

Okay.

Yeah.

It's a, it's a work in progress, but, uh, we'll keep, we'll keep chipping away a few years ago.

I didn't think I'd be racing on board the boat.

So, uh, we'll see where it goes.

Yeah.

That's amazing.

How does the format work for the women's format of the America's cup?

Yeah.

So there are 12 teams competing against each other, all 12 countries, um, they're split into two different.

Flats and you do a round Robin series.

So six teams race against each other, um, for a fleet race.

Uh, and then the top three from each of those flights will go through to the next round and you do another fleet race series with the top six.

Then the top two from that will go through into a match racing final where it's a one V one.

And, uh, we do a few races and it's a usually a best of three or best of five, but can't remember exactly the moment, but, um, yeah, so the match racing finishes.

It's pretty crazy, but so we're hoping to see you there in that one V one.

Oh, that would be great.

All right.

Amazing.

If you don't have a lot of time on the water to train, is there other ways that you can learn how to do it?

Yeah.

With all the technology that we have for the America's cup and the sale GP.

Now, um, we have a simulator that's actually located in Sydney for us, but the Australian team and we train on board that.

So we sit in the room with a massive screen in front of us and we actually have cockpits.

So the hull that we would race.

Okay.

And, um, we.

Have everything that would be in the actual boat with all the buttons in the same place, all the trimming toggles in the same place, the wheels, and we sit in there and we train and we can actually race people internationally on it.

It's almost like a PlayStation.

It's pretty funny.

Yeah.

Right.

Real people are doing it at the same time.

Yeah.

So we organized to race against teams that we obviously know from other sailing and, um, yeah, we will organize like tonight I'm going down to the training and, uh, I'll be racing against the Swedish teams.

That's amazing.

And they'll be training in.

But some of them are in Barcelona and some of them are actually in Sweden and yeah, we'll be racing each other real time.

Yeah.

Virtually.

On a fake water body of water.

Yeah.

So it, it's actually the, the graphics are pretty good.

Um, you, the perspective you have is from when you're sitting inside the boat, what you would see if you were actually sailing on the boat.

Wow.

Okay.

Yeah.

Um, the only difference is you can't obviously like look around and spin around, but you can use like keys to pan and have a look at different views to make sure you're not crashing into anyone.

Good.

That's handy.

Yeah.

It can be a bit chaotic sometimes.

Yeah.

Um, but yeah, we've raced with up to seven boats so far on one game, which is very, very different to anything I've experienced before, but.

The technology is seriously impressive.

Yeah.

It's crazy.

It's as if you're like a, um, we talk to pilots and stuff and they, they obviously practice in a simulator before they go flying and, um, different things, but yeah, it's cool to have a sport that's really pushing in that.

Amazing.

Um, thank you so much for your time today.

I've loved getting to know more about it.

And as I said, I can't wait to.

To keep watching you and your team as you progress.

Oh, thank you so much.

I really appreciate it.

Thanks so much for listening.

If you got something out of this episode, I would absolutely love it.

If you could send it on to one person who you think might enjoy it.

Otherwise subscribe, give us a review and make sure you follow us on Instagram at the female athlete project to stay up to date with podcast episodes, merge drops, and of course, news and stories about Epic female athletes.