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While most of us are still in our pyjamas struggling to brew our Sunday morning cuppa, Silverdale teen Liam Dimock has been waking up at 6am to sail his way to a spot in the America’s Cup ESeries Grand Final.
Fourteen-year-old Liam, a year 10 student at Wentworth College, was raised on the ocean. Growing up boating with his parents, he began his competitive sailing career on the O’pen Skiff at Manly Sailing Club and worked his way up to the ILCA 6. As he was about to start his pre-season training, Liam received the devastating news that the aftereffects of covid benched him for the winter.
Not one to be easily deterred from his passion, Liam immersed himself in online forums and videos to keep up with the sailing world and his peers. A chance discovery on YouTube led Liam to download ‘AC Sailing’, a new simulation videogame launched by the 37th America’s Cup and developed from the same physics engine as the simulators used by top America’s Cup teams.
From open waters to close quarters, Liam had to change tack and learn to steer a virtual AC40 yacht from his bedroom. With Liam’s raw talent winning him 90 per cent of his online races, it wasn’t hard to convince his parents to let him enter the official competition – a new series for the world of e-sports, culminating in the 2024 America’s Cup Sailing ESeries Grand Final in Barcelona on September 28. The only promise Liam had to make was to keep up with his homework.
It wasn’t all plain sailing. Liam put in the hard work, logging 240 hours playing the game, reviewing earlier races, and comparing notes with fellow ESailors. His real-world sailing experience came in handy as he experimented with different setups for his virtual boat and strategised for various in-race scenarios.
Cutting it fine, Liam used his own savings to upgrade to a gaming laptop just days before the competition kicked off. He needed to ensure his gaming system would keep pace with him for the all-important qualifying series as he competed against 700 gamers around the world, from Canada to Albania.
Adopting the moniker eSailingCentral, Liam navigated the challenges deftly. Outmanoeuvring his Danish competitor by four points, Liam scored a flight to Barcelona to compete for a slice of the 50,000 Euro (NZD $90,000) prize pool. Money aside, Liam is laser-focused on winning the glory of being crowned the first ever champion, and nabbing one of two spots in a real-world live sailing showdown against the Unicredit Youth America’s Cup team.
Liam says it’s only fair that dad, aka support crew, accompanies him to Spain given he’s the regular chauffeur for sailing training. But mum, Rachel, and sister, Kiera, will be with him in spirit, cheering from their Silverdale living room.
In true Kiwi fashion, Aotearoa is punching above its weight with two of the six race qualifiers. Local University student Robbie Wooldridge, competing as Booshify, joins Liam in the Barcelona final. Gettting to know each other after meeting in the ESailing world, spoke highly of Liam to the America’s Cup website, “I would say Liam, eSailingCentral, is probably who I would say is the favourite. He’s always just so fast. He taught me everything with this game.”
