2026 Sunburst national championships: Cam Brown and Tessa Clinton dominate as fleet celebrates multi-generational sailing

Cam Brown and Tessa Clinton's runaway win at the latest Sunburst national championships may have looked effortless on the results sheet, but it was anything but one-way traffic - claiming the crown required a 1,300km round trip just to get on the start line.

Fresh from their medal success at the youth world championships in Vilamoura in December, Brown and Clinton finished top of the Jack Brooke fleet at Wakatere Boating Club in Auckland over the weekend, winning four of the six completed races aboard Vagrant. It was Brown's eighth Sunburst national title - just one fewer than his father, Andrew.

Andy and Pippa Walker were in second, with Robbs Hielkema and son Luka, 8, completing the podium. They were one of more than two dozen family combinations on the water, a hallmark of the class.

"That's what is so special about the Sunburst - a connection to these boats that often span generations," Hielkema, a general committee member of the New Zealand Sunburst Association and a member of Wakatere Boating Club, said. "Many of the families who helped build the Sunbursts when they first came to the country are still sailing the class today, and a lot of those boats are still around. My grandad sailed them, my mum sailed them, I sailed them, my brother and sister as well, and now all of our kids are sailing them too. It’s really special.

"A lot of the guys racing them were teenagers at the yacht club when I was learning, and they've all come back to the club and brought their kids along. Many of them live all over Auckland and have left [the club], or even moved overseas, but they have returned to their home club to sail the Sunburst again."

The regatta also marked a return to the same boat Brown first sailed as a child more than 12 years ago, though Vagrant had since been sold to the Wislang family and was now based in Wellington.

Daryl Wislang had to miss the nationals as he was aboard Raven, the 34-metre Baltic 111 that won the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race from Lanzarote to Antigua.

"The Browns wanted to borrow the boat back for the regatta, so Andrew drove all the way to Wellington, picked it up, brought it up, and then he’s driving it back down to drop it off," Hielkema said.

"I know of one family who bought their boat ages ago, and they sailed with their kids when they were tiny and up until they were teenagers. Then the teenagers sailed the boat, and mum and dad sailed it once the teenagers had left home. Now their daughter was sailing with a friend at this regatta. They’ve been in the class for like 20 years."

Conditions tested sailors over the weekend, with light airs on the opening day, followed by strong winds on day two. A new cruising division was introduced alongside the racing, designed to broaden participation and ease younger sailors into the event.

"We had a really light first day and a really windy second day, so it was really testing on both days," Hielkema said. "But probably the smart division was the cruising division - they had a big destination sail on day one and went to get ice creams, and then on the windy day they just went out for a quick hoon, came back, did fun activities on the beach, and played together. It’s something new we've introduced to get the kids involved, and hopefully next year when they're older, it won’t seem like a big deal, and they’ll know what it’s all about."

Fleet numbers at Wakatere and nationally continue to grow, driven by informal, social sailing alongside championship racing.

"A couple of us have bought boats, and on Sunday mornings we just go for a fun sail," Hielkema said. "We've been getting our school friends and other buddies who aren't necessarily sailors to join us. We're trying to get the boats out sailing all day if we can."

For younger sailors, the Sunburst provides an accessible pathway into the sport and a platform to build confidence and resilience.

"The younger kids, like Luka, did really well over the weekend," Hielkema said. "Up until now, when it's been windy at club racing, we've often done one or two races and then pulled in. Over the last year, he's been building resilience, and on Sunday, he was able to master all four races - a big test for him. I'm not sure if having Dad alongside helped or hurt, but there was definitely a bit of bribery with lollies and the promise of extra iPad time."

Final results and standings here.