It is a masterstroke that scored by Enrico Chieffi who, at the helm of SLAM’s relaunching journey from 2021, conquers a technical partnership with Emirates Team New Zealand and become official apparel supplier of the America’s Cup defender. A starboard tack start that leaves behind and downwind both the previous supplier Sail Racing and all the other technical sailing apparel manufacturers who failed to win a place aboard the defender of the next edition of the “Hundred Guinea Cup”.
“It is a real 
honour to sign this agreement and join the Emirates Team New Zealand campaign. We will do everything we can to contribute to their defence of the America’s Cup – SLAM CEO Enrico Chieffi said – Grant Dalton and I have known each other for many years.
There has always been a harmony and deep respect between us even as we were often protagonists at the most important events in world sailing, first as athletes and then as managers.”
The most important phase of the collaboration will see the company involved in the research and development of the best materials, the same that will have to withstand the enormous stress to which the 50-knot racers subject the America’s Cup crews.
This important technological development will be used both to produce a replica version of the garments worn by the team, and for the technical clothing that SLAM will market worldwide.
“SLAM have demonstrated their clear and positive strategy in working towards becoming one of the world’s best high-performance sailing clothing brands. All of us at Emirates Team New Zealand look forward to working alongside them on that mission – Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said – We are a team of over 100 people across a diverse range of vital roles, from engineering to boat building to sailing who must work together to win the America’s Cup.
This philosophy extends to all of our partners and Slam and their commitment to their quality apparel.”
Founded in Genoa in 1979, SLAM was bought in 2021 by VAM Investment Group, which immediately chose Enrico Chieffi to lead the company, giving him a simple yet ambitious goal: to develop innovative technical sailing apparel solutions by bringing SLAM into the Olympus of big brands.
“Slam has played a central role in the sailing world for over 40 years. Our objective is to establish its place among the finest high-performance sailing brands in the world. This partnership is a significant step on that journey. The Emirates Team New Zealand technical clothing is the result of a close collaboration on the development of materials and product design,
Emirates Team New Zealand will defend the America’s Cup against the winners of the Challenger Series which will be contested by five ultra-competitive teams: the UK’s INEOS Britannia led by multi-Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie; Switzerland’s two-time Cup winners Alinghi Red Bull Racing; Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team led by Max Sirena as team director and skipper; American Magic led by Terry Hutchinson with Olympic Gold Medal winners Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison; and the French K-Challenge led by Stephan Kandler.
