Nico Martin and Kay Brunsvold
_{Flying at the Forefront}

The Mission

Be the best Nacra Sailors the US has ever seen

Show it to the world on the podium at the LA 2028 Olympics

Become the fastest sailors in the world

The Team

Nothing motivates people like love ...

... and boy do we love going fast 😈

_{Driven to be the fastest sailors in the world}

• Nico
• Kay

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Nico Martin

• Sailing CV

" Raised sailing in the harsh winters of the Pacific Northwest, I started sailing at age 6 in Optimist. Small but mighty, I very quickly showed my potential, rising to the top in the region by the time I was 9.
But I wanted more…
Soon, I was traveling every weekend to Vancouver, BC, or San Francisco to up my game. When I was 10, I traveled alone to Argentina, sailing in the biggest waves I had ever seen, building from Cape Horn all the way west along South America. Qualifying for the US National Team, my passion for sailing became worldwide. Japan, Bermuda, Mexico, Antigua, Italy, Spain—just a handful of the places I had been selected to represent the US before I even turned 15.
Around that age, I was invited to my first Olympic Development Clinic by rising star Ian Macdiarmid to sail the 29er with him.
I was hooked.
Working with a teammate to push a fast, unstable boat to its limits was a feeling unlike anything I had ever experienced. That boat taught me high-speed tactics, sail control, and how much physics is behind making a boat go fast. More than that, it taught me to be fearless—to be cold-minded, fueled by the knowledge that I could go out in any condition, control the boat at its limits, and get home safely.
My life changed the moment I learned there would be a Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in October 2018. Something grew in me. Day after day, I thought about this opportunity more and more. Even before I had a partner, I knew this was my path.
In my head, it was not a dream, but a hunger.
I decided to switch classes to the Nacra 15 and found a teammate in AnaClare Sole. Together, we became one of the best teams in the world, fueled by pure hard work and determination. We built our own training plans and went out on Galveston Bay every chance we had—three buoys and their anchors on our little Nacra 15 trampoline so we could set our own racecourse.
This dedication is what raised us to glory.
We became North American Champions every year we were in the class. We earned Team USA a spot at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, qualified through Clearwater and Long Beach, and brought home the Nation’s Trophy at the 2018 Youth Worlds—the only time in US history. After a challenging event at a tricky city-front venue, we placed 6th at the Youth Olympic Games.
I finished my youth career grateful for every opportunity, but deep down I knew:
This was just the beginning.
Knowing I wanted to pursue an Olympic campaign and having the ability to study in Europe, I made Barcelona, Spain my home base—allowing me to train and compete internationally while continuing my education. I attended many major events with crews from around the world, including a 14th-place finish at Kiel Week 2020, achieved without proper training. During this time, I also joined the Spanish Youth America’s Cup team while continuing my search for the right Olympic Campaign partner. I put in hundreds of hours on the AC40 Simulator, trained several days on the AC40 on the water, and all the while was Head of Systems and Analytics for the team. We made it to the Semi Finals of the Youth Americas Cup, and placed 3rd in the Women's America's Cup
With time and patience, the right Olympic Partner arrived:
In the summer of 2025, I had the opportunity to coach Kay’s team for a day. During that session, we went sailing together and I immediately recognized her exceptional talent, work ethic, and natural feel for the boat.
At the time, both of us were committed to other partnerships. However, we shared the same long-term vision: to campaign full-time and pursue excellence at the highest level. Unfortunately, our partners were not able to match the time, dedication, and commitment required to reach that goal. With mutual respect, we both chose to step away from our projects.
Months later, after reflecting on what we truly wanted from our sailing careers, our passion for the sport brought us back together. I asked Kay if she wanted to try this, and within a few days, I was flying to Miami to get back on the boat - this time as partners rather than competitors - and see what was possible.
Almost immediately, things fell into place.
Kay is a bright, strong, self-starting athlete who constantly strives to push her limits—physically, mentally, and technically. Her drive, discipline, and hunger to improve perfectly complement my own, and together we are building a partnership grounded in trust, resilience, and shared ambition.
We are fully committed to developing into one of the best teams in the world and pursuing our Olympic dreams with everything we have.
When I’m not training on the Nacra, I’m putting hours into the gym (climbing and weight training are my favorites), sailing the Moth and Switch class with A1Racing, and laying the foundation for our Olympic campaign toward the 2028 Games in the foiling Nacra 17.

Carolina Zager

Growing up in Miami brought the world of sailing to my doorstep, starting as an Optimist sailor on Key Biscayne bay at the young age of 12, sailing quickly grew into the fiery passion that fuels my dreams to this very day.It all changed when I took my first step into the 29er. It was as if I had entered an alternate dimension and sailing really took on a whole new meaning for me. Sailing with my super skipper Laura Hamilton for three incredible years not only let me become one of the top female crews in the world, it also made me hunger for a career in the sailing world.Starting off with Phill Muller and the 2Niner squad, I quickly began traveling across the country, competing in national competitions and rising to the podium, sailing fast and climbing the learning curve. I learned the physics, boat handling, and techniques to push the boat to its limit and the speed ceiling kept rising higher and higher. Facing off with incredible athletes, our true debut was when we scored 25th at our first World Championship together in Spain, 4th for women. It was that event that completely shifted my perspective and made me realize how much sailing has molded my life and will shift my future in an irreversible way.And we kept striving for more.Our eyes were dead set towards Youth Worlds and after traveling across the nation and the world, winning bronze at Nationals, gold in the women's division at UK Nationals (pre-worlds) and then qualifying for Youth Worlds in Brazil my sailing career really launched in a way that it had never before.Youth Worlds was the peak of my 29er career and after battling in a variety of conditions and competing against the top female teams in the world, me and my partner finished 5th overall. Although we were merely inches away from reaching the podium it was an extremely proud moment for me and is what brought my youth career to a joyous close.Yet when I moved from the United States to Italy I thought all was lost…I had spent 4 strenuous months searching and searching for a potential skipper until I had finally found the 49er FX. Albeit a rocky start due to lack of funding and coaching, my partner and I had learned the ways of the boat and competed in Europeans and the World Championship in Galicia, Spain with just the backing of our wits and hunger for success.And with one phone call everything changedI will never forget the excitement I felt when Nico Martin first reached out to me. I had always been eager to take the next big leap towards the Olympics and this partnership was my ticket towards that dream. Since then we have been rocking as a team, with his years of experience guiding me and my passion to learn and improve, I believe that our team has a very bright future ahead of us and I am so thrilled to start our project geared towards the LA 2028 Olympic games in the Nacra 17.

The Now

Miami Training Block (January–February):
From the end of January through February, we have been based in Miami for an intensive training block developing our high-performance team dynamic. We're nailing down our routines and communication especially going into the 4 main maneuvers:
-Tacks
-Gybes
-Upwind Mark Roundings
-Downwind Mark Roundings
This block was a major step forward in improving our consistency, speed, and automating our movements so we can rely on muscle memory when the pressure is on.Supplementary Development:
We also took a short break from Nacra sailing to focus on technical and performance development.
Nico participated in an A1R Switch Camp, where he worked on advancing our telemetry and data analysis systems to better understand and optimize our performance.
Meanwhile, Kay returned to the Tampa area to work at her family’s company, Florida Composites, which specializes in composite, metal, and additive manufacturing and machining. While there, she also coached sailing and designed and 3D-printed custom components to help optimize our efficiency and reliability on the water.
_{Find our upcoming calendar below}

Take OFF with us

We could use passionate people on our team... Wanna join us?
_{Don't let the speed scare you..}

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Moments