At first glance, you might not peg Charlotte “Charlie” Wren as the next great sailing engineer for Emirates Team New Zealand. After all, her first time in an Optimist didn’t exactly go to plan. “I was absolutely useless,” she laughs. “I’d get stuck doing circles hit my head on the boom, it just didn’t click for me like it did for my sister, Harri.”

Charlie’s introduction to sailing came through her sister, who coached at Ponsonby Cruising Club and took to the sport instantly. For Charlie, though, the early days were more frustration than fascination. “I wanted to love it as much as Harri did,” she admits, “but I just didn’t.” By high school, she’d stopped sailing altogether. But the seed had been planted, and it would eventually grow back in a new, more powerful way.

While still at school “I was 16 or 17 from memory,” Charlie joined the Spirit of Adventure, a life-changing experience that reignited her love for the water. “The trip wasn’t about learning to sail,” she says, “but I found myself loving the sailing part the most. That feeling stuck with me.” Charlie even returned later as a volunteer, solidifying her connection to the ocean and teamwork aboard a vessel.

Now studying mechatronics and mechanical engineering at university, Charlie is blending her two passions, sailing and innovation. Her degree combines mechanical, electrical, and software systems, often referred to as robotics, and she’s already thinking about how these skills could help shape the future of high-performance boats. “I’m really interested in composites and data,” she says. “The way materials perform, how data from the boats can be analysed and fed back into design, that’s where my head’s at.”

Earlier this year, Charlie found her way back onto the water through the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s Learn to Sail Keelboat course. “It was perfect,” she says. “The coaches, Zak (Merton), Nate (Short), and Brooke (Adamson), were amazing. It wasn’t overwhelming, and for the first time, I was actually looking forward to sailing every week.” That enthusiasm carried her straight into the Squadron’s Mastercard Youth Training Programme (YTP), where she’s developing her racing skills and learning the teamwork and communication that mirror her engineering discipline.

Charlie Wren racing in the Emirates Team New Zealand Elliott 7s as part of the Mastercard Youth Training Programme.

“I didn’t just want to sit on the rail and not learn anything,” she says. “I wanted to really understand sailing, the strategy, the teamwork, the technical side.” As she continues her studies, Charlie is combining academic theory with real-world experience on the water, setting herself up for her ultimate dream job, working as an engineer for Emirates Team New Zealand.

“I really want to work for Emirates Team New Zealand,” she says, smiling. “That’s the dream, to combine my passion for sailing and engineering. I’m fascinated by how boats are built, how they perform, and how technology drives every part of it. I’d love to be part of that team.”

Charlie Wren

Her inspiration is Elise Beavis, the trailblazing performance engineer at Emirates Team New Zealand, who has now won two America’s Cups (2021 in Auckland and 2024 in Barcelona). “Elise is incredible,” Charlie says. “She went straight from uni to Emirates Team New Zealand, and what she’s achieved is amazing. There aren’t many women in that space, and she’s paving the way.”

Charlie will graduate in 2028, right in time for the 38th America’s Cup cycle. Her goal is clear and her determination unmistakable. “If I could sit down with Grant Dalton,” she says, “I’d tell him that I’m passionate about both engineering and sailing, and that all I want is to combine those two worlds – and do my part in making the team faster. That’s the dream for my life.”

For now though, Charlie will continue her studies, swing down an Elliott 7 in the Mastercard Youth Training Programme, and race on board Commodore David Blakey’s Beneteau First 40 “Gradient” in the various Squadron series.

BUT – Watch this space. Grant Dalton and Emirates Team New Zealand, there’s a future engineer coming for you.