Australia decisive in victory at the 2024 Youth Match Racing World Championship in Jeddah

Under clear skies and a building sea breeze on the Red Sea, the first day of racing unfolded with quality racing as teams from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and the United States of America all competing to become World Champions.

The leading performance on Day 1 came from the Australian team representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Led by skipper Cole Tapper, the team had a strong opening day, scoring wins  from their opening six races in the qualifying stage. Their performance set the tone for the rest of the competition, as they aimed to maintain their momentum through to the knockout rounds.

While the Aussies made a strong start, other teams including defending World Champion Ange Delerce from France and New Zealander Josh Hyde also signalled clear intent to be amongst the front runners heading into Stage 2.

 

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On the second day, near-perfect conditions again greeted the 12 teams, representing 10 nations. An early morning of light 6–8 knot north-westerly winds continued to build throughout the day, slowly clocking right and building to 13–16 knots before racing concluded at sunset.

The big mover on Day 2 saw Sweden’s Marius Westerlind climb from 9th to 3rd, showing his experience at this level – now competing in his fifth world championship. Denmark also made a big recovery from 11th to 7th and qualified for the quarterfinals.

Day 3 delivered another thrilling day of racing, with Australia, France, Sweden, and New Zealand securing spots in the Final Four.

The conditions were ideal once again, with a moderate north-westerly breeze ranging from 8-12 knots. The first match of the day featured a rematch of the 2023 World Championship Final between Australia and France. The French team emerged victorious after a costly mistake by the Australians during the top mark rounding, which allowed France to capitalise and take the win. Despite this setback, Australia came back strong in their final round-robin match against New Zealand, securing a comfortable win to claim second place in the standings.

The Quarter-Final matchups saw a series of upsets, with Australia’s Cole Tapper, France’s Ange Delerce, New Zealand’s Josh Hyde, and Sweden’s Marius Westerlind all securing spots in the semifinals. By the end of the quarterfinals, the USA, France 2 (Rossi), Ireland, and Denmark were eliminated from contention.

 

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Australia was paired against Trans-Tasman rivals from New Zealand. The Australians had the might over the New Zealanders in all three starts, and around the racetrack, to comfortably book the first berth in the Finals, 3–0. In the other semi-final, regatta leader Ange Delerce from France chose to race Marius Westerlind from Sweden, eventually fell to the French 3-2 after an amazing battle.

The final saw Australia with Cole Tapper, Hamish Vass, Jack Frewin, Chelsea Williams & Joel Beashel turning the tables on defending champions Ange Delerce, Julia D’Amodio, Julien Bunel, Sylvestre De Giuli Morghen and Thomas Flachon Sanchez of France, to dominate the Finals Series, winning 3–0.

The Australian crew went undefeated through the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals to claim victory over 10 nations in one of the most comprehensive victories at these World Championships.

This win marked the fourth World Championship title for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia after victories in Los Angeles (2017), Yekaterinburg (2019) and Auckland (2020).