While New Zealand’s 2025 World Match Racing Tour campaign has come to an end, the final stages in Shenzhen will carry wider interest, particularly for those watching the early contours of the 38th America’s Cup.
With Kiwi sailor Nick Egnot-Johnson eliminated at the Shenzhen semi-final stage, attention has shifted to the last race in the semis. UK’s Ian Williams is into the finals after a three-one win over New Zealand’s Nick Egnot-Johson, while Chris Poole (USA) and Oscar Engström (Sweden) both currently sit on two-all with one more race to find the second finalist.
Chris Poole ambitions beyond Match Racing
Chris Poole is most likely to be the overall 2025 Match Racing Tour Championship, currently sitting at the top of the leaderboard with 120 points from the best 4 matches (144 total overall.)
Poole’s presence remains beyond the WMRT. He has been open about his ambition to build a United States-backed America’s Cup campaign for AC38 (important for the USA as the incumbent, American Magic, has indicated it is not competing in 2027), positioning Riptide Racing as more than a match racing programme. His progress in the Worlds sits at the intersection of two worlds, short-format match racing and the longer pathway toward Cup competition.
Egnot Johnson’s Shenzhen campaign
New Zealand’s 2025 World Match Racing Tour season came to a close in Shenzhen with Egnot-Johnson bowing out at the semi-final stage.
He was beaten 3–1 by Williams. The semis were delayed with inconsistent pressure. Once racing, the breeze remained light and unstable, and any early loss of position proved difficult to claw back
Nick Egnot-Johnson began the regatta in Group A, where consistency proved hard to find in a tightly packed pool which included Ian Williams, Tom Foucher (France), and Björn Hansen (Sweden). He completed the Group A fleet races with three wins and four losses (a 43% win rate).
Losses to Chris Poole, Aurélien Pierroz, and others left him fifth in Group A (ninth overall) and outside the automatic quarter final cut. That result pushed him into the Repechage, a pressure pathway requiring near perfect execution to stay alive. Which he delivered with a 7-0 scoreline, the only sailor to post a perfect record in this phase.
This performance reset his regatta. From being mid fleet after Stage 1, he emerged as the top qualifier into the knockout rounds.
Egnot-Johnson faced Jeppe Borch (Denmark) in a five race quarter final series, defeating Borch 3-2. After falling behind 2–1, Egnot-Johnson closed the series with back-to-back wins, showing control when the series tightened and elimination loomed.
In the semi final, Egnot-Johnson met Williams (GBR), one of the most experienced match racers in the fleet. But Williams defeated Egnot-Johnson, 3–1 (Loss-Win-Loss-Loss). The semi final brought Nick’s run to an end, just one step short of the final.
While there will be no Kiwi in the final, this is far from the end of Egnot-Johnson’s match racing career. Comparing ages with the two finalists, Williams and Poole, he has many years of competition ahead of him.
Where Egnot-Johnson sits on the 2025 Tour Leaderboard
Egnot-Johnson currently sits on 13th on the 2025 Overall Leaderboard, finishing with 36th in Macao, and 24th in Bermuda.
His Knots Racing crew has established itself as one of the most promising match racing teams on the international circuit, sitting inside the world’s top 15 in the World Sailing Match Race Rankings.
