December 17, 2025
3 minutes reading time
Chloe Turner ready to 'play the long game' in pursuit of her dreams
Sailing was not a case of love at first sight for Chloe Turner but once she caught the bug, there was no going back.
The New Zealander only turns 17 next May but she is already a relative veteran at the Youth Sailing World Championships, with this her third appearance at the event across two classes.
She made her debut aged 14 in the 29er before switching to the ILCA 6 class the following year, where she remains in Vilamoura.
Turner has had a successful year, winning U17 World Championship gold in Los Angeles in the summer, as she continues to follow the trail blazed by her father, Jim.
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She was just a toddler when she watched her dad compete at the 2012 Olympics – which took place in Weymouth, just along the Dorset coast from his birthplace in Bridport – while Turner Snr is also a 15-time world champion across various classes and has taken part in several America’s Cups.
“Dad introduced me to the sport at a very young age but at first, I didn’t really like it that much,” she said. “I was a bit scared and I thought ‘maybe it’s not for me’.
“But as I’ve grown older, I’ve really enjoyed it and watching dad do his events, like the Olympics, the America’s Cup, I just thought ‘this is a really cool sport, this is where I want to be when I’m older’.
“I was always very scared of the wind but now the wind is my favourite thing, I love some good 20 knots. One day, I was like ‘this is actually cool, this is fun, it’s a good challenge’. I just took it on and tried to learn as much as I could.”
Turner finished 23rd in the ILCA 6 standings in 2024, and she cites the ‘magical’ Lake Garda – host on that occasion – as her favourite sailing venue so far.
She may not be the last in her family to compete in the event, either, with her younger sister Sofia determined to follow suit.
“I coach her sometimes and it is really nice having her following in my footsteps, being able to hopefully give her inspiration and help her build,” Turner said.
“There are three years between us, so she might be beating me in a couple of years!”
Having the chance to compete as part of a global fleet is particularly useful for the teenager, with her base in New Zealand occasionally making it tricky to judge her progress in relation to her global rivals.
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“I still feel quite young and inexperienced in the class so I am still trying to gain that international experience compared to lots of people here in Europe,” she said.
“But I feel I’m making good progress and each month, each year, I am stepping closer to where I want to be in the future.
“Winning the World U17 gold was a really cool milestone, it showed how much I had been working and how it paid off.
“It was cool to see that even though we are so removed down in New Zealand, you can still go overseas and get results.”
Doing likewise on the Algarve is Turner’s immediate target but her refreshing sense of perspective is clear as she takes the next step towards her ultimate dream.
“They say in sport ‘talent never beats hard work’ and that is especially true in the laser fleet,” she said.
“The level is extremely high and you need to put those hours in on and off the water, otherwise success doesn’t just get given to you.
“Success also doesn’t come quickly, it can take a long time to get what you might think you deserve.
“I always think about the long game. I am not just thinking I’m always going to get instant success, I just hope in the future all my hard work will get a good result.
“Ever since I was really young, the goal has always been an Olympic medal. Hopefully that will happen one day!”