Auckland Grammar and Westlake Girls sweep Interdominion titles at Akarana

For young sailors, the Interdominions offer a chance to test themselves beyond home waters and race for their country. At Royal Akarana Yacht Club, that opportunity brought together 11 school teams from both sides of the Tasman. New Zealand wanted the Nations Trophy back. Australia arrived determined to keep it.

New Zealand's school sailors won the 2026 Interdominion Nations Trophy by 37.5 regatta points to 15. The final score makes it look easy. Halfway through the Nations stage, though, Australia was ahead in the open division.

Nations Trophy: New Zealand turns the open division around

In the Nations stage teams only raced the other country. That meant New Zealand's three open teams spent it lining up against the two Hutchins School crews from Hobart, Gold and Magenta. Hutchins Gold came into the 2026 Nations Trophy as Australian schools champion after winning on the River Derwent in July. Last year, Hutchins had also won the open division at Goolwa, with Grammar second.

New Zealand took the first round robin four races to two, then lost the second by the same score. Westlake Boys and Macleans College had finished first and third at the New Zealand nationals in April, but didn't win a race in that round, losing twice each to Gold and Magenta. Grammar won both of its races, which left the two countries level on six race wins apiece. With those half-value first-round wins in the mix, Australia was ahead 5–4 on points.

It didn't last. New Zealand won four of six in the third round robin and five of six in the fourth. Gold had beaten both Westlake Boys and Macleans three times, but in the last round it lost to both of them, and to Grammar as well. New Zealand finished the open Nations stage ahead 13–8 on points, from a 15–9 record on the water.

Grammar won its first seven races, then came unstuck against Magenta in its eighth. Grammar's boats crossed second, fourth and fifth, and Magenta's first, third and sixth, so Magenta won 10–11. It made no difference at the top of the table, where Grammar finished on six adjusted wins. Westlake Boys and Macleans were tied on 3.5 behind, and Westlake Boys got second on average points against common opponents, 9.88 to 11.25.

Nations Trophy: Westlake Girls take first on a tie-break

The female division was a different story. New Zealand won seven of nine races in the first round robin and 28 of 36 overall, for a 24.5–7 points tally.

The calculations get technical, but bear with. Most of that came from Westlake Girls and Nelson College for Girls, who each won 11 of their 12 races. Both lost only to Moreton Bay College, which had defended its Australian girls' title in July. Nelson's loss was a clear 8–13 in the second round robin. Westlake's came late in the final round and was as tight as Grammar's, 11–10, with the same first, third and sixth beating the same second, fourth and fifth.

Because the Nations format didn't pit Westlake against Nelson, the two finished level on 9.5 with no head-to-head result to separate them. The tie went to average points against common opponents. Westlake averaged 7.33 a race and Nelson 8.50.

Whangārei Girls' High School won six races, including all four against Fahan School, and finished level with Moreton Bay on 5.5. Moreton Bay took third, having won all four of their meetings.

Westlake Girls captain Jess Handley told Insight Media that "it was great to see the other New Zealand girls teams putting up a fight and getting some really good wins against the Aussie teams".

Schools Trophy: Auckland Grammar and Westlake Girls go unbeaten

Once the Nations Trophy was decided, all 11 schools raced everyone in their division for the Schools Trophy. The open teams met each other four times and the female teams three times.

Grammar and Westlake Girls both won their first rematch against the team that had beaten them, and both did it by finishing first, second and third. Grammar's was against Magenta. Westlake's came against Moreton Bay in the opening race of their campaign.

From there Grammar won all 16 races. Across the regatta, a Grammar boat crossed the line first in 22 of its 24 races. One of the two exceptions still went Grammar's way, because Gold’s lead boat finished first but Grammar filled second, third and fourth. Grammar's closest Schools Trophy race was against Gold in the opening round, a 10–11 win with first, third and sixth, the same combination that had beaten it against Magenta.

That made it eight from eight against Gold for the week. Westlake Boys, who beat Grammar in the national final in April, didn't do any better, losing all four Schools Trophy meetings. Gold finished second on 10 wins, with Westlake Boys on six, Macleans on five and Magenta on three.

Westlake Girls kept pace with Grammar in the female division, winning all 15 races. They finished the final round robin with first, second and third in all five of their races. Moreton Bay was second on 10.

Further down, several results from the Nations stage were reversed. Ascham School had won just two races there, but finished third in the Schools Trophy with eight. Three of those wins came against Nelson, who had beaten Ascham four times earlier in the week. Nelson ended up fourth on five, and Whangārei fifth on four. Fahan lost all 12 of its Nations races, then picked up three wins in the Schools Trophy, against Whangārei, Nelson and Ascham.

At the top, Westlake Girls collected a fourth consecutive female Interdominion title, following Sydney, Auckland and Goolwa.

A trophy to defend when the schools next meet

Last year at Goolwa, Australia took the Nations Trophy and Hutchins finished ahead of Grammar in the open division. This year, Grammar won every meeting with Hutchins Gold, while New Zealand reclaimed the country honours. Westlake Girls provided the continuity, extending a winning run spanning four consecutive championships.

Yet Australia leaves Auckland with reasons to look forward. Hutchins briefly helped put its country ahead in the open contest. Moreton Bay beat both leading Kiwi girls’ teams, and Ascham turned four losses against Nelson into three wins. The final margin was convincing, but those results show how quickly the balance can shift.

When the schools next meet, some familiar sailors will have moved on and others will carry that experience forward. New Zealand will have a trophy to defend. Australia will have results to build on. And both will know that one boat gaining one place can still turn a race.