New Zealand has a new sailing world champion and a fresh claim to being the best youth skiff nation on the planet, after a standout week at the 29er World Championships in Kiel, Germany.
Teenagers Bella Jenkins and Jess Handley won the female under-19 world title and finished second among all female crews, leading a five-boat New Zealand squad that was crowned the world’s top 29er nation. The Nations Cup, awarded to the highest-performing country across the regatta, went to New Zealand after all five of its crews reached the gold fleet, the group reserved for the fastest 50 boats once qualifying is complete. That fleet was drawn from close to 300 entries representing dozens of countries, which makes putting every Kiwi boat into the top group a rare result.
Three of the New Zealand crews finished inside the overall top 10. Nelsen Meacham and Oli Stone were the leading Kiwi pair in fourth, Matteo Barker and Leo Brown took seventh, and Blake Batten and Hugo Smith rounded out the top 10.
The 29er is one of the most competitive youth classes in sailing and the recognised stepping stone into the Olympic 49er and 49erFX boats. It has launched the careers of some of the country’s best-known sailors, including Olympic medallists Blair Tuke and Alex Maloney, so a result like this matters well beyond the youth ranks.
For Jenkins and Handley the title capped a rapid rise. The pair finished 13th at last year’s Youth Sailing World Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, and were racing in the bronze fleet at their last major international regatta. This time they qualified strongly, held their nerve in tricky conditions and sailed into the medals.
“It’s an incredible feeling to help the team win the Nations Cup, but being second female overall and winning the under-19 title makes it even more special,” Jenkins said. “We don’t have big fleets back home, so being able to race against 50 boats in the gold fleet and perform like we did shows we can compete at the highest level.”
She said the weather made the week difficult. “We had really shifty conditions throughout the regatta, but we managed to stay consistent and had a really strong qualifying series, which set us up well for the finals.”
Handley said the podium had not looked likely early on. “We didn’t think we’d be on the podium until the start of the gold fleet series, when we realised we were one of only three female teams to qualify,” she said. “What makes this even more special is that Bella and I were in the bronze fleet at our last major international regatta. To come here, make gold fleet and then win a medal is an incredible feeling.”
The wider squad pushed New Zealand to the top of the standings. Meacham and Stone finished just 18 points shy of an overall podium place after seven top-four results in qualifying, and traded the honour of leading Kiwi crew with Barker and Brown through much of the week. Batten and Smith secured 10th to give the country three boats in the top 10. In the under-17 division, Ewan Brazle and Toby Clark narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth and just six points behind the bronze-medal pair from Hong Kong while placing 29th overall.
Geoff Woolley, Yachting New Zealand’s talent development manager, said the results reflected months of work. “Bella and Jess becoming under-19 world champions is a significant achievement and we’re incredibly proud of them,” Woolley said. “They’ve shown remarkable consistency and dedication, working incredibly hard over the past 18 months. This result is a well-deserved reward for that commitment.”
He also credited the squad and coach Campbell Stanton. “The way this group has trained together and pushed each other is really paying off, and everyone involved should be extremely proud of what they’ve achieved,” he said. “A special congratulations also goes to coach Campbell Stanton, who has worked with the squad throughout the season and at these events, and to the sailors’ parents and support network, without whom this would not be possible.”
The win comes in a strong stretch for New Zealand’s young sailors. It landed in the same week that Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush pushed for the Olympic-class 49er European title, a reminder of the depth building through the pathway that the 29er feeds into.
Jenkins and Handley are not finished for the year. They will turn their attention to the New Zealand youth team trials in September, where they hope to earn selection for the Youth Sailing World Championships back in Vilamoura, Portugal, in December.
“Our big goal this year is to perform even better at the youth worlds,” Handley said. “After that we want to transition into an Olympic class. It’s our dream to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games one day and, hopefully, win an Olympic medal.”
What do you make of the haul in Kiel and the talent coming through New Zealand’s youth sailing ranks? Have you followed a young sailor along the 29er pathway or watched these crews on the water? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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