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More than a dozen Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) sailors will battle it out with the best young match racers on the planet at the 2024 World Sailing youth match racing world championships in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
Thirteen sailors will be competing across three teams at the prestigious Jeddah Yacht Club and Marina, highlighting the RNZYS' strength in developing elite youth sailing talent.
Two RNZYS teams are representing New Zealand directly, while three additional RNZYS sailors are part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) team.
The event runs from November 29 to December 2 and is hosted by the Saudi Sailing Federation. It features 12 of the world’s top youth match racing teams competing in FarEast 28 keelboats, with crew of up to five sailors.
Set on the scenic Red Sea coast, Jeddah Yacht Club has quickly gained a reputation as a premier sailing venue, recently hosting the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta during the 37th America’s Cup cycle.
RNZYS performance sailing coach Zak Merton highlighted the squad’s enthusiasm and readiness for the challenge.
“It’s fantastic to have such a strong group of sailors here. The collaboration and team spirit across the RNZYS crews are excellent, which will be a key advantage. I’m proud to see our sailors competing against some of the world’s top youth teams on this prestigious stage," Merton said.
The sailors have been enjoying the warm weather and dynamic conditions in Jeddah, with wind speeds ranging from 10-18 knots and sea states of over a metre providing valuable experience and challenging racing.
After a successful season in the Southern Hemisphere, RNZYS performance programme sailor Josh Hyde is going into the regatta as the number one-seeded skipper having just finished third in a competitive fleet at the New Zealand open match racing national championships.
Hyde and his Waitemata Racing team of Zach Fong, Cody Coughlan, Mason Mulcahy and Sofia Higgott have had a solid event build-up and are poised to get racing tomorrow.
“The team are in high spirits; we have spent the training window really locking in on our teamwork. The competition looks strong, we’re looking forward to lining up and start racing tomorrow,” Hyde said.
Noah Malpot (above) will helm the second RNZYS crew, with Josh Hyde the skipper of the first - Waitemata Racing (main image). Photos / RNZYS
Noah Malpot, skipper of the second RNZYS team, has enjoyed a stellar first year as helm - finishing second to Hyde in the New Zealand youth match racing trials, and fifth at the open match racing nationals late last month.
Malpot is joined by Alissa Marshall, Ben Roff, Ethan Fong and Luis Schneider.
“This regatta could be anyone’s game, having received a late entry, we don’t feel too much pressure," Malpot said.
"As a bit of an underdog, we can settle down and just focus on our sailing. I think that good boat handling could see us go far in this regatta.”
Malpot and his team have been enjoying Jeddah so far: “The city has very impressive architecture. People have been very welcoming, and the Jeddah Yacht Club and Marina is a great venue. It has been awesome sailing in such warm weather compared to back home.”
Three Mastercard youth training programme sailors - Sam Scott, Luca Smith and Phoebe Buckland - have joined KSA.
Click here to follow the action. - with RNZYS
