Cambridge’s Micah Wilkinson and sailing partner, Auckland’s Erica Dawson, picked up a bronze medal in the Nacra 17 mixed multihull event at the Paris Olympics.
Micah Wilkinson
Wilkinson, 28, who helms, and Dawson, 30, have been competing together in a Nacra 17 – a 17-foot foiling catamaran – since June 2019 and were unplaced at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Born in Cambridge Wilkinson took up sailing as a six-year-old when his mother Linda Moorhead took him to a learn to sail programme on Lake Karāpiro when he was a student at St Peter’s Catholic School.
He continued sailing while at Cambridge High School, captaining the school sailing team, and was also involved in go karting, rugby, and water polo before switching his focus to sailing. He is a member of the Ngā Roto Sailing Club in Te Awamutu and Cambridge Yacht & Motor Boat Club
“I’m from the centre of farming country in New Zealand so it was just sailing on lakes before I moved up to Auckland with university and really got into it. My late teens is when I really cracked on and started to enjoy it,” he told Olympics.com.
He was gold medallist at the 2013 Youth World Championships in the Sirena SL16 open class and silver medallist – with Dawson – the European Nacra 17 championships two years ago.
A former youth world champion in the 29er and a member of the 2017 Youth America’s Cup team, Wilkinson has plenty of experience and success in the Nacra 17. He switched from crewing to helming when
His father Peter owns Wilkinson Transport Engineers in Cambridge.
