Meacham and Stone claim 2026 NZ 29er Nationals title with dominant consistency

Nelsen Meacham and Oli Stone had the regatta wrapped up long before Will Leech found his best sailing. That is the story of the 2026 New Zealand 29er Nationals at Royal Akarana: a series that opened in light, shifting air and closed in the kind of sustained pressure that hauls an asymmetric spinnaker taut and sends the bow skyward on every downwind run.

Those are precisely the conditions the 29er is built for. The skiff sits under five metres in length and weighs around 70 kilograms, light enough to skim across the surface rather than push through it, with the spinnaker doing its most effective work on the downwind angles. Mackay Boats, the class's New Zealand builder, puts it plainly: old or young, big or small, the 29er has a place for you. What the class also does, reliably, is produce sailors who move on to bigger stages.

New Zealand has raced the class at national level since 2000, and the alumni list reads like a who's who of Kiwi sailing. Blair Tuke and Peter Burling, both now competing in SailGP, came through the 29er fleet. Seb Menzies, Erica Dawson, Tuke and Burling have all competed at the America's Cup. Micah Wilkinson now drives for Team Drogba in the E1 electric powerboat series. Will McKenzie has taken the SailGP pathway. The 29er has a habit of identifying what comes next.

The standard for this year's event was set at Manly in 2025, where a 30-boat fleet raced in conditions that peaked at 36 knots. William Mason and Will Leech claimed the overall title that year, with Nelsen Meacham and Joe Leith second and Hugo Smith and Louis Quéré third. Bella Jenkins and Jess Handley topped the girls fleet.

Thursday 28 May brought a smaller but familiar cast to Royal Akarana for the 2026 edition. Mason returned, now paired with Tessa Clinton in a mixed combination. Leech was back with Tim Howse replacing his 2025 crew partner. Meacham lined up with a new partner in Oli Stone. Jenkins and Handley were there to defend their girls title. Whether the reshaped partnerships would produce a similar podium or reshuffle it entirely was the central question heading into racing.

The opening day gave crews almost nothing in the way of pace, with light and variable conditions standing in stark contrast to the 36-knot racing at Manly. Three races were completed, and Meacham and Stone made their intentions plain from the outset: a win in race one, third in race two, then back to the front in race three. Jenkins and Handley sat second overall after three consistent finishes inside the top three. Blake Batten and Hugo Smith held third on a 5-2-5 scorecard. Leech and Howse were still settling in, returning 6-6-(8). James Currell and Robert Abel-Pattinson provided one of the day's talking points, reading the variable conditions well enough to take the race two win.

Stronger pressure arrived on day two alongside a five-race schedule. The breeze tightened the spread through the middle of the fleet. Clinton and Mason came out of the blocks quickly, scoring 1-2-4 across their first three races before falling off the pace. Leech and Howse lifted considerably, posting nothing below fourth across the day. Meacham and Stone recorded a fourth in race seven, their only result outside the top three across the entire series, yet added two more wins to consolidate their lead.

The final day pushed crews to the upper wind limits, delivering the high-speed skiff sailing the 29er is designed for. Leech and Howse answered with 1-2-1-1, finishing the regatta in the manner they should have started it.

When all 12 races were counted and one discard applied, Meacham and Stone held firm at the top on 20 points. Leech and Howse came home second on 30, their dominant final day unable to bridge the gap conceded on day one. Batten and Smith took third on 41. Matteo Barker and Leo Brown were fourth on 50, and Ewan Brazle and Toby Clark rounded out the top five on 56.

For Leech, second place is a solid return to the nationals podium under changed circumstances. His 2025 title came alongside Mason; arriving at Royal Akarana with a new crew partner and still finishing second points to his consistency across conditions. The two had shared more than that 2025 national title, with Mason and Leech also representing New Zealand at the 2025 Youth Sailing World Championships in Vilamoura and both competing at the 2025 29er European Championship in Riva del Garda, where they placed eighth after the qualifying series.

Mason reappeared this year in the mixed division, racing alongside Tessa Clinton to eighth overall. Clinton is a multiple national title winner across the 29er and 420.

Meacham brought his own European context to the 2026 title. At Riva del Garda in 2025, he and Joe Leith finished seventh after the qualifying series, one place ahead of the Leech and Mason combination. His new partnership with Stone at Royal Akarana produced the most consistent scorecard in the fleet, with multiple race wins and only one result outside the top three in the counting scores.

In the girls division, Jenkins and Handley claimed the divisional title and finished sixth overall in the 19-boat fleet. The pair won the female title outright at the 2025 nationals and both represented New Zealand at the 2025 Youth Worlds in the 29er fleet. Handley holds the current New Zealand 29er national girls championship. Sixth overall in a mixed fleet of 19, against sailors carrying European and world championship experience, is a result that needs no qualification.

The 19-boat fleet included one international entry, with Jules Humez and Oscar Taleb of Cercle Nautique Caledonien from France finishing 12th.

On-water photography was provided by Insight Media, with images spanning the full range of conditions from the light tactical racing of day one through to the high-pressure finale.

Results provisional as of 31 May 2026. Discarded score shown in parentheses. DNC = did not compete, DNS = did not start, RET = retired, OCS = on course side, UFD = under flag disqualification.