New Zealand SailGP Team helmed by Peter Burling in action Photo: PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand sailor Andy Maloney is quite happy to have swapped brawn for brains as the sport rides a wave of new technology.
The New Zealand team lines up in the latest round of SailGP in Sydney this weekend, with Maloney the Flight Controller onboard Amokura.
It's a long way from where he first started as a youngster in Auckland.
He made his name in the Laser class, winning the 2008 world title before being a part of the New Zealand team that won the Youth America's Cup regatta in 2013.
New Zealand SailGP Team helmed by Peter Burling in action Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"At that stage I would never have thought about being a flight controller on a boat, but it has developed so much," Maloney told RNZ.
"My first taste of flying a boat was ahead of the Bermuda America's Cup campaign (2017) and as it was so new it was an amazing opportunity to learn as much as I could, so to now be a flight controller is a dream come true really."
The Flight Controller on a SailGP and America's Cup boat controls the foils and the ride height of the boat.
Maloney was a cyclor (people that provide the power to adjust sails) on that America's Cup boat in 2017.
"I had to bulk up after after my Laser days finished and I joined Team New Zealand for the 2017 America's Cup, but trimmed down again two years ago when I became full time flight controller.
"I've now transferred the weight off my arms and legs and into my brain."
SailGP has been described as the Formula One of sailing and while the technology has changed dramatically in recent years Maloney says it still feels very much like sailing.
"A hundred percent, you still got the puffs hitting the boat and the wind shifts and it's really tactical so there is still a lot of that deep down feel and instinct about it.
"The fundamentals are similar no matter what role you have on the boat, the instinct is very similar.
"But it's about finding the edge in your specific role and finding the limit and that just takes a lot of experience across the different conditions.
"A lot of it is feel and how the boat is going to react in different situations and different wind shifts, but there are also a lot of numbers on the screen on the boat that tell you what pitch and height the boat is flying at which you can then reference."
New Zealand is second in the SailGP standings, behind Australia, heading the Sydney round.
Regular driver Peter Burling is unavailable for this round as he's on parental leave with Nathan Outteridge taking over behind the steering wheel.
Andy Maloney sailing a Laser in 2015. Photo: PHOTOSPORT