Source: Radio New Zealand
New Zealand sailors Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush at the 2026 49er World Championships, France. Sailing Energy / Yachting NZ
New Zealand has a new star pairing in 49er sailing.
Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush have become the youngest 49er world champions in history after a stunning comeback win in France.
The 21-year-old duo added the world crown to the European title they claimed in Greece last year, striking gold in a dramatic final race at the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships.
The Kiwis started the two-race medal series on top of the standings and extended their lead to five points with victory in the first race.
However they crossed the start line early in the final race and were forced to do a restart which dropped them to the back of the 10-boat fleet.
They were in ninth place heading into the final leg but made the call to gybe away from the rest of the fleet and their aggressive move paid off as they found stronger pressure and surged through the field to finish fifth and grab the world title.
“I don’t really have the words,” Menzies said afterwards. “It’s an amazing feeling. The final race was incredibly stressful, but we managed to fight our way back and stay in touch when it mattered.”
Lee Rush said the pair never panicked despite the disastrous start.
“We knew everything was still incredibly close, so the key was just staying calm and keeping ourselves in the race,” he said. “There were moments where the Germans had us, then the Dutch got close, and the Austrians came charging through late. We just kept our heads down and gave ourselves a chance.”
The pair only realised they had secured gold in the closing moments of the race.
“We left it until the very last minute,” Lee Rush said. “That final gybe set away from the fleet made the difference, but even halfway down the last run, we still weren’t counting anything.
“I actually said to Seb, ‘Just make sure we don’t fall out [of the boat] or do anything stupid now!’ We didn’t know we’d won until we crossed the line.”
The result continued New Zealand’s remarkable pedigree in the 49er class. It was the country’s first world title in the event since Peter Burling and Blair Tuke won in Geelong in 2020.
New Zealand crews had now claimed Olympic medals in the class at four consecutive Games, including Burling and Tuke’s gold at Tokyo 2020 and Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie’s silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/18/sailing-kiwi-crew-become-youngest-world-champions/