Richard Gladwell

Richard Gladwell is an international sailing journalist and photographer who lives in New Zealand. He began sailing when he was ten years old and first wrote about the America's Cup five years later. A Kiwi representative sailor, he competed internationally in dinghies and keelboats for 12 years, sailing with and against some of the current senior members of Emirates Team New Zealand. He has covered the America's Cup and Team New Zealand in its various renditions for the past 30 years. For 20 years, Gladwell was an International Sailing Judge, including ten years as an International Umpire - the same qualifications held by International Jury and Umpires for the America's Cup and Olympics. Gladwell is one of three New Zealanders on the Selection Panel for the America's Cup Hall of Fame, along with PJ Montgomery and Hamish Ross. Gladwell is a news photographer, who uses his images to help tell the story as much as the words. In 2016, he placed fifth in the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image of the Year, an event open to top professional and other photographers for an image he shot during the 2016 Olympic Regatta. It is the highest place achieved in this prestigious competition by a New Zealander.