SMITH Backs Emirates Team New Zealand Through Innovation Technology

When true product innovation is built to solve the most extreme environmental challenges, it can often find relevance beyond its original intent. Announced today, SMITH – a global leader in outdoor performance products incorporating dynamic technologies, and flagship brand of the Safilo Group – is the Official Supplier of protective helmets and goggles to Emirates Team New Zealand in its bid to win a fourth consecutive title at the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup in Naples, Italy, in summer 2027.

Voted the 2025 World Sailing Team of the Year, Emirates Team New Zealand faces intense on-water hazards, including high-speed maneuvers, exposure to high velocity water, and rapidly changing weather conditions. Originally engineered for alpine ski racing, SMITH’s Icon MIPS® helmet has been adopted by the premier team for open-water training and racing — underscoring how innovation built for one extreme environment can transcend sport altogether. The Icon MIPS® helmet provides lightweight, ventilated protection through advanced ABS exterior construction, integrated Koroyd® energy-absorbing technology, and the Mips® Brain Protection System, which helps reduce rotational forces from angled impacts.

The team pairs the helmet with a Squad MAG™ goggle featuring a proprietary ChromaPop™ Sun Black Gold lens engineered to enhance color, contrast, and optical clarity on the water. Designed to integrate seamlessly with the Icon MIPS® helmet for maximum airflow, the semi-rimless Squad MAG™ delivers superior impact protection, an uncompromised field of view, wind resistance, and all-condition visibility.

“In elite sailing, visibility and reaction time are everything — and we need gear that stands up to extreme challenges,” said Nathan Outteridge, Skipper for Emirates Team New Zealand. “SMITH equipment has been trusted by world-class athletes across sport disciplines for more than 60 years. These technologies may have been developed for snow, but when performance innovation is truly advanced, it doesn’t belong to just one sport.”

“We’re proud to partner with Emirates Team New Zealand whose DNA in performance, innovation, and heritage is akin to SMITH’s own brand ethos. We are honored to support their ingenuity in adapting our products designed for high-risk, high-speed environments as trusted performance equipment for on water. This cross-sport adoption signals a new era of design thinking — one driven not by category, but by performance outcome,” said Taryn Ryan, Global Head of Marketing at SMITH.

For more details on Emirates Team New Zealand and for race updates, visit https://emirates-team-new-zealand.americascup.com.