Auckland’s Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron hosted closely fought New Zealand Youth Match Racing Worlds Trials over the weekend, with six of the country’s top young skippers and crews battling for a single prize, the right to represent New Zealand at the 2026 Youth Match Racing World Championship.
Racing took place in Elliott 7m sportsboats, where tight manoeuvres, clean starts, and tactical discipline often decide the outcome within metres. Across two days, competitors faced light conditions that tested patience as much as skill.
Fong takes the title in a nail-biting final
In the end, it was Ethan Fong who emerged on top, edging Josh Hyde 3–2 in a gripping five race final.
The pair were evenly matched throughout the series. Hyde struck first, taking the opening race and applying early pressure. Fong responded immediately, leveling the score before building a narrow advantage with back-to-back wins. Hyde kept the series alive with another victory, but Fong held his nerve in the decider to secure the overall win.
“It was a super even battle, no one really had a huge speed or boat handling advantage,” Fong said. “We made small gains on the start, and our downwind strategy improved over the entire final series.”
The race committee described it as a hard fought contest between two sailors who pushed each other to the limit.
Semifinals set the tone
Both finalists progressed through the semifinals with clean 3–0 sweeps.
Fong dispatched Samuel Scott without dropping a race, though the scoreline did not reflect how close the racing was.
“We had some super close racing against Sam Scott in the semis, which was awesome,” Fong said.
Hyde mirrored that performance against Rory Sims, combining sharp boat handling with disciplined tactics to shut out his opponent.
Behind them, Scott claimed third place in the petit final, defeating Sims 2–0 to round out the podium.
Round robin highlights depth of fleet
Earlier in the regatta, the round robin stage revealed just how competitive the fleet was.
Three skippers, Hyde, Fong, and Scott, all finished with identical 4–1 records, each winning 80 percent of their matches. That parity set up a tightly contested knockout phase, with little separating the leading contenders.
Further down the standings, Rory Sims showed flashes of pace to finish fourth, while Robbie Wooldridge and Teaghan Denney rounded out the fleet after a challenging series.
Light winds test patience
Conditions across the weekend proved as influential as the racing itself.
Day one was marked by long delays, with the first race not getting underway until late afternoon due to a lack of wind. Race management worked hard to complete the schedule, eventually pushing through enough flights to set up the finals on day two.
Even then, sailors had to adapt constantly, shifting gears between drifting conditions and short bursts of pressure.
“The racing was extremely tricky with super light and shifty winds. Everyone was on their game,” Fong said. “It’s always a battle racing Josh, we know we have to be sailing at our best to beat him.”
Final standings
- Ethan Fong
- Josh Hyde
- Samuel Scott
- Rory Sims
- Robbie Wooldridge
- Teaghan Denney
Looking ahead
With the win, Ethan Fong, alongside crew Lucas Day, Harry McMullen, Hugo McMullen, and Amelia Angus, secures the opportunity to represent New Zealand on the world stage at the 2026 Youth Match Racing World Championship held in Middelfart, Denmark, from 21–25 June 2026.
“Representing New Zealand at Youth Worlds means a lot to the team,” Fong said. “We have put in so much effort over the past few years and for it to pay off when it mattered it’s great. This is the regatta I’ve wanted to do since I started match racing, and to be there this year it’s awesome. We are super excited to have a good crack at racing the best teams all around the world.”
It’s a result that reflects not just one strong weekend, but composure under pressure and the ability to execute when it matters most. Just as importantly, the depth shown across the fleet highlights a healthy pipeline of young match racing talent coming through the New Zealand system.
