Chloe Turner has done it again. Three weeks after winning bronze at the ILCA 6 Youth European Championships in Greece, the 17-year-old Aucklander stepped onto the podium at the Youth World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, finishing third in a fleet of 122 sailors from 35 nations. She edged Czechia's Beata Dokoupilova for the bronze spot with two top-five finishes across her final three gold fleet races.
Greece was the first international silverware of her under-19 career. Aarhus made it back-to-back.
Greece's Hermionie Ghicas won the world title after dominating the final day, taking all three gold fleet races to pull clear of Ireland's Sienna Wright, who claimed silver. Ghicas had held just a one-point lead over Wright coming into that final session. Turner, meanwhile, held her nerve behind the title battle to complete the podium.
"I'm stoked to medal at back-to-back events, especially as the venues offered completely different sailing conditions," Turner said. "Greece was very light and variable, while this week we had cold and shifty conditions. To be consistent at both events shows that I'm making gains, which is really encouraging."
Aarhus lived up to its reputation. The Danish port in late spring can be unforgiving, the breeze off the Kattegat carrying a bite that catches sailors who aren't ready for it.
Her development has been shaped by New Zealand's wider ILCA 6 squad, led by former Olympian Sara Winther, with work concentrated on fleet management, starting, strategy, and boat-on-boat tactics. Regular time on the water with coach Tom Saunders, a Paris 2024 Olympian and former ILCA 7 world champion, has added another layer.
"You don't always get to see those gains back in New Zealand when you're training against smaller numbers," Turner said. "It's when you go overseas and compete against the big fleets that you really see the progress. It's great to see that the hard work back in New Zealand is starting to pay off."
This bronze sits alongside her ILCA 6 under-17 women's world title, won in Los Angeles last summer. That was the age-group fleet. This one was the open youth women's division.
Geoff Woolley, Yachting New Zealand's High Performance Athlete Development Manager, said the result "is a significant achievement in an incredibly tough event and reflects not only Chloe's hard work but the huge support and commitment from her family." He also noted that Turner has another year of youth sailing ahead, with the Youth Worlds in Vilamoura already on the horizon later this year.
The boys' fleet drew 429 sailors from 45 nations. Tom Pilkington was the pick of the New Zealand contingent, finishing 16th overall after making the gold fleet. Arran Begic placed 41st and Toby Dunn 64th, with Isaac Gaites 100th and Thomas Linklater 127th. George Turner finished 170th, Lukas Johnson 175th, and Thomas Jurczyluk 188th.
