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Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson are New Zealand’s up and coming crew in the Olympic Nacra 17 class and are supported through the Yachting New Zealand Aon Fast Track Squad.
They just wrapped up the 2016 Nacra World Championships in Clearwater, Florida in a hot fleet of the world’s best many of whom will sail at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games this August.
They finished 19th overall and became Nacra 17 Under 23 World Champions!
Olivia and Micah report in;
We are the Nacra 17 under 23 World Champions!
It’s been a long week of racing here in Clearwater, Florida but we are stoked to come away 19th overall and 1st under 23.
The last few days of racing were a bit of a blur. After day four we were in 15th position but collisions, a few minor gear breakages and a spectacular pitch-pole slid us backwards down the standings over the last two days.
Mackay and Wilkinson take a swim in Clearwater © Jen Edney
We are a little bit disappointed with our last two days as we can still see so much potential but we are glad to finish inside the top 20 overall.
We have learnt a lot this week. It’s the longest and hardest regatta with the most ups and downs we have ever done. We now know what a full 16 race world champs in challenging conditions is like and what it takes to stay on top of your game for six days straight.
There were races where we were one of the fastest boats in the fleet, and there were races that we were one of the slowest. We have a massive pile of work-ons over the coming months and its stacking up to be very exciting.
We fly home tomorrow and have a week off before Oceanbridge Sail Auckland.
Followed directly after by the Red Bull Foiling Generation regatta where we race fully foiling 18ft cats against other under-21 New Zealanders.
Then followed the week after by our Nacra National Championships! Some point in amongst it all we also start uni. All very exciting and we can't wait to get home have a break then get back into it!
Liv + Micah
