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George Lee Rush and Seb Menzies went through nearly the full range of emotions on the final day of the Youth Sailing World Championships in The Hague but ultimately walked away with a bronze medal.
The pair went into the final race with a chance of snaring gold in the boy's 29er but saw those hopes dashed when they got mixed up in a pileup at the pin on the start line and then watched their main rivals quite literally sailing away. They eventually finished the race in 20th in the 24-boat fleet and were convinced they had dropped out of the medals.
"We were out the back, miles from anyone else so we had to sit and watch, which was pretty horrible," Lee Rush said. "We actually thought we got fourth and were absolutely gutted.
"When we were on the beach, someone said the results had us tied in third [with the Spanish] but winning on countback. We sailed the whole way in thinking we had lost out for sure."
Menzies added: "Hearing the news was definitely a big relief for us. We were here to go for gold after winning our two first regattas [leading into the youth worlds] but to end up with a medal, we are definitely stoked with that."
The Argentine pair of Maximo Videla and Tadeo Funes de Rioja sailed a masterful regatta in the often treacherous conditions and rounded out their week by winning the final race to finish 15 points ahead of Great Britain's Santiago Sesto Cosby and Leo Wilkinson.
The Youth Sailing World Championships ended how it started in The Hague, as most of the New Zealand sailors struggled with the light winds and strong currents.
Three other New Zealand crews finished in the top 10 overall with Helena Sanderson and Cam McGlashan fifth in the Nacra 15, Hugo Wigglesworth seventh in the boy's kitefoiling and Lucas Day and Sam Scott ninth in the boy's 420.
New Zealand also finished seventh in the standings for the Nations Trophy, with Spain, France and Italy in the top three.
"It definitely didn't go our way," New Zealand coach Sam Mackay said. "All of the members of the team showed their potential with some good races but consistency cost us this week.
"It was still a really good learning experience and I'm really proud of the way the team conducted themselves over here. They would have learned a lot working under some excellent coaches in Jenny Armstrong, Nathan Handley and Paul Snow-Hansen.
"A lot of the sailors in the team are still really young and, for most, this was their first taste of international racing. We hope they go back home really motivated to work hard and kick on in their sailing careers."
Some in the NZL Sailing Foundation Youth Team will remain overseas, with Caleb Armit heading to the ILCA 6 youth worlds in Houston and Lee Rush and Menzies competing in the junior (under-23) 49erFX world championships at Lake Como.
Lee Rush and Menzies will swap roles in the 49erFX and go there full of confidence after regatta wins at both Kiel Week and the 29er European Championships on top of their bronze at the youth worlds.
"It’s massive knowing we can work so well together as a combination," said Menzies, who teamed up with Lee Rush late last year. "It’s still pretty early stages for us as a team.
"We don't have any expectations for ourselves [at the junior world championships]. We're just there to learn as much as we can and get that experience of racing a 49er under our belt. We have done our important three regattas so it should be a bit more chill now. The youth worlds was pretty stressful, that's for sure."
Final results and standings after day 5 of the Youth Sailing World Championships in The Hague:
Boy's kitefoiling (19 boards)
1st: Maximilian Maeder (SGP) (3) 1 (2) 1 1 2 2 (7) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (5) 1 2 - 19 points
2nd: Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) 1 (2) 1 (2) (2) 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 - 23 pts
3rd: Jakub Jurowski (POL) 2 3 3 (11) (6) 5 (7) 2 2 3 5 5 3 4 4 5 4 3 4 - 55 pts
7th: Hugo Wigglesworth (NZL) 9 (DNC) 7 7 (11) 7 5 6 7 (14) 9 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 - 106 pts
Nacra 15 (14 boats)
1st: Grandjean / Fehlmann (SUI) 1 2 2 2 (4) 1 1 1 2 3 - 15 pts
2nd: Garcia de la Casa / Garcia de la Casa (ESP) 2 (4) 1 1 1 3 4 1 1 2 - 16 pts
3rd: Rideau / Moreau (FRA) 4 1 3 4 3 2 2 (UFD) 3 6 - 28 pts
5th: Helena Sanderson / Cam McGlashan (NZL) 5 6 4 (9) 6 5 3 3 9 9 - 50 pts
Girl's ILCA 6 (56 boats)
1st: Eve McMahon (IRL) 2 1 1 3 1 1 (6) - 9 pts
2nd: Evie Saunders (AUS) 1 7 2 (10) 2 8 4 - 24 pts
3rd: Roos Wind (NED) 4 4 4 (9) 8 3 7 - 30 pts
26th: Teaghan Denney (NZL) 33 (41) 19 30 39 18 9 - 148 pts
Boy's ILCA 6 (61 boats)
1st: Rocco Wright (IRL) 2 (17) 4 7 6 7 4 - 30 pts
2nd: Sebastian Kempe (BER) 1 1 (11) 11 8 8 2 - 31 pts
3rd: Ole Schweckendiek (GER) 8 2 (29) 6 5 5 5 - 31 pts
17th: Caleb Armit (NZL) 4 24 (39) 27 14 2 27 - 98 pts
Girl's 29er (23 boats)
1st: Pefaur / Pantin (ARG) 3 2 3 3 1 3 5 3 2 (7) 1 1 - 27 pts
2nd: Gout / Babin (FRA) 1 1 5 7 3 1 1 2 9 (24 UFD) 3 2 - 35 pts
3rd: Ichihashi / Goto (JPN) 2 3 2 (24 DNF) 23 8 3 4 7 5 4 6 - 67 pts
18th: Lucy Leith / Lizzie Shapland (NZL) 20 18 16 (24 DNF) 15 17 8 9 6 24 UFD 19 10 - 162 pts
Boy's 29er (24 boats)
1st: Videla / Funes de Rioja (ARG) 1 1 1 2 8 2 1 (9) 4 4 9 1 - 34 pts
2nd: Sesto Cosby / Wilkinson (GBR) (17) 2 3 4 3 7 4 14 0 1 5 6 - 49 pts
3rd: George Lee Rush / Seb Menzies (NZL) 7 4 7 3 2 5 2 1 14 2 4 (20) - 51 pts
Girl's 420 (21 boats)
1st: Perello / Mora (ESP) 1 6 1 (22 UFD) 10 12 1 1 3 - 35 pts
2nd: Wehrie / Rinn (GER) 5 1 2 3 1 5 15 (22 BFD) 7 - 39 pts
3rd: Michelini / Bonifaccio (ITA) 2 7 8 4 3 4 9 2 (13) - 39 pts
17th: Nicola Hume / Daniella Wooldridge (NZL) (21) 17 10 12 13 16 19 13 21 - 121 pts
Boy's 420 (23 boats)
1st: Parkin / Beck (USA) 10 5 2 (21) 7 4 7 2 1 - 38 pts
2nd: Levy / Gal (ISR) 1 1 10 4 13 6 3 1 (24 RET) - 39 pts
3rd: Samarzija / Scheidl (CRO) 3 12 6 (13) 12 2 1 4 2 - 42 pts
9th: Lucas Day / Sam Scott (NZL) 11 7 11 3 9 (19) 12 3 8 - 64 pts
Girl's windfoiling (29 boards)
1st: Tamar Steinberg (ISR) (1) (1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 8 pts
2nd: Merve Vatah (TUR) 1 1 1 1 1 (7) 5 1 (17) 2 - 13 pts
3rd: Lina Erzen (SLO) (DNF) 3 5 3 5 1 1 5 3 (6) - 26 pts
18th: Aimee Bright (NZL) (33 DNF) 13 17 11 19 19 17 15 11 (30 DNS) - 122 pts
Boy's windfoiling (31 boards)
1st: Charlie Dixon (GBR) 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 (17) 1 (5) - 11 pts
2nd: Hidde van der Meer (NED) 1 3 1 1 7 7 (35 DNC) (9) 3 3 1 - 27 pts
3rd: Nacho Baltasar (ESP) 11 7 1 5 (21) 1 1 1 (19) 5 1 - 33 pts
29th: Jack Parr (NZL) (35 DNS) 25 27 27 23 15 25 31 (35 BFD) 32 UFD 17 - 222 pts
- Pic: George Lee Rush and Seb Menzies celebrate their bronze medal at the Youth Sailing World Championships. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
