Reuben Corbett and his Black Sheep Racing crew swept the final in straight wins over American skipper Gavin Brady to claim the New Zealand Match Racing Championship 2025, capping three days of hard racing on the Waitematā.
Corbett arrived at the knockouts carrying a perfect 14 wins from 14 starts across both round robins, going 7–0 in the opening stage and 7–0 again in the second. The crew of Guy Pilkington, George Angus, and Oliver Lloyd read pre-starts cleanly from the first flight, protected their lanes with consistent discipline, and converted most leads into extensions downwind. Their composure never wavered.
Brady finished the round robins in second overall on an 11–3 scoreline. His crew, comprising Rye Brady, Megan Thomson, Phoebe Buckland, and Florence Sharpe, produced sharp sailing across the bulk of the schedule, dealt with both Fong and Wooldridge in the semi final round robin, and forced several tight calls throughout the weekend. When the title was on the line, Corbett's pace and control proved a different proposition entirely.
Third place went to Ethan Fong, who beat Robbie Wooldridge twice in the petit final in one of the weekend's more compelling matchups. Fong's crew had recovered well after losses earlier in the second round robin and sailed with growing confidence once the finals series arrived. Wooldridge had been outstanding on day one and finished the first round robin in second, but could not rediscover that form when the petit final came around.
Further down the order, Noah Malpot took fifth after building momentum steadily through the second round robin, improving from a 2–5 start to finish 6–8 across the two stages. Charley Cates placed sixth, with key wins over Bates and Jeffery in the later flights securing that result. Xavier Bates ended the championship in seventh after a difficult second round robin, and Leo Jeffery closed out the final order in eighth with one win.
Corbett's victory reinforces his strong record in the Elliott 7 fleet and confirms Black Sheep Racing as the leading match racing outfit in the country. With youth sailors making deep runs through the draw and Brady's internationally experienced crew pressing hard at the top, the 2025 championship delivered one of the most competitive fields the event has seen in recent seasons.
