SailGP Highlights
- Event Wins - 2
SailGP
Luke ‘Parko’ Parkinson joined Emirates Team GBR ahead of SailGP Season 2, having raced with Japan in the inaugural campaign. Parkinson, acting as flight controller, reunited with his former Japan teammate Iain ‘Goobs’ Jensen upon joining Ben Ainslie's British outfit.
Youth
Parkinson began sailing in a mirror dinghy when he was five-years-old at Freemantle Sailing Club in Perth, Western Australia. He eventually began competing in Mirrors, with his first professional race coming in 2010 at the Flinders Island Race.
Three years later, he joined Objective Australia as a trimmer for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in San Francisco.
Career
Parkinson then shifted his focus to the Volvo Ocean Race as a one of only two under-30 members of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, spending 10 months competing in the gruelling competition but helped power the crew to the event title.
Soon after the event’s conclusion, he didn’t waste any time getting back on the water and joined Artemeis Racing for its campaign in the 35th America’s Cup, progressing to the Louis Vuitton Cup finals before falling to eventual champions Emirates Team New Zealand.
He returned to the Volvo Ocean Race for the 2017-18 competition, joining Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag.
Personal
Parkinson comes from a talented sailing family, as his sister won gold at the Beijing Olympics.
When he’s not sailing, he is an extreme sports enthusiast, whether its surfing, skateboarding or windsurfing.