2024 World Sailing Youth Match Racing World Championship at Jeddah Yacht Club & Marina – Summary
by Jordan Reece 2 Dec 16:40 PST
29 November – 2 December 2024
Cole Tapper, Hamish Vass, Jack Frewin, Chelsea Williams, and Joel Beashel, representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, have been named the 2024 World Sailing Youth Match Racing World Champions following an impeccable Finals Series on the Red Sea.
The Australian team went undefeated throughout the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Finals, achieving victory over competitors from ten nations in one of the most decisive wins in the history of these World Championships.
To claim the World title, the Australian crew first needed to secure a place in the Finals. In the Semi-Finals, they faced their Trans-Tasman rivals Josh Hyde, Cody Coughlan, Mason Mulcahy, Sofia Higgott, and Zachary Fong from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The Australians dominated in all three starts and throughout the race to easily secure the first Finals spot with a score of 3 – 0.
In the other Semi-Final, regatta leader France opted to race against Marius Westerlind from Sweden, who fought valiantly but ultimately succumbed to the French team by 3 – 2.
In a rematch of last year’s Finals, the memories of the 2023 World Championship competition in Sydney, Australia, were effectively erased, as Tapper, Vass, and Williams outperformed the defending champions Ange Delerce, Julia D’Amodio, Julien Bunel, Sylvestre De Giuli Morghen, and Thomas Flachon Sanchez from France, dominating the Finals Series with a 3 – 0 victory.
This achievement marks the fourth World Championship title for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Tapper, Vass, Frewin, Williams, and Beashel join the ranks of youth sailors from the CYCA Youth Sailing Academy who have previously won World titles in Los Angeles (2017), Yekaterinburg (RUS), and Auckland (NZL).
