Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush have defended their European 49er title in Eckernförde, Germany, claiming their third major championship in just over a year and cementing their place among the world's premier 49er crews.
The Auckland pair were confirmed champions after the final day of racing was abandoned due to a complete lack of wind, leaving Sunday's standings to decide the outcome. Anticlimactic, yes, but it did nothing to diminish another commanding campaign from the reigning world champions.
The 21-year-olds won their maiden European title in Thessaloniki in 2025, then became the youngest crew in history to win the 49er World Championship in Quiberon earlier this year, giving New Zealand its first Olympic-class sailing world title since Tom Saunders won the ILCA 7 world championship in 2021.
What makes the achievement even more striking is how selectively they have raced this season. The pair skipped the Princess Sofia Regatta, French Olympic Week, and Kiel Week, targeting only the events that mattered most. "It takes a lot to get up from New Zealand, so doing the two Grand Slams and the worlds would be a long trip," Menzies said. "We just focused on the important ones, which were the worlds and the Europeans."
Menzies has also balanced his Olympic campaign with his recent appointment as co-helm of Emirates Team New Zealand alongside Nathan Outteridge for the America's Cup in Naples next year.
"It was an interesting week," Menzies said of the regatta. "We had a lot of breeze and then not much breeze and finally today, not enough breeze. We didn't get to race today, which is a shame, but we're still very happy with how we raced this week."
The cancellation also meant the fleet never got to contest the event's revamped medal series, which had compressed points and left the top 10 separated by narrow margins. "Yeah, it's a little bit strange, a bit anticlimactic," Lee Rush said. "With the new format everything was still quite close, so it would have been exciting to get some racing because anything really could have happened through the top 10. It's a shame not to race, but we're obviously so pleased with the outcome."
On the pair's consistency, Lee Rush pointed to the training environment back home. "We've been working super hard for quite a while now on our speed, and the same with the other Kiwis. We all train together back home."
That collective effort showed across the New Zealand contingent. Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn had an outstanding regatta to finish fifth overall in the 49er fleet, spending much of the week inside the top three before narrowly missing the podium in the tightly compressed standings.
Micah Wilkinson and Kate Stewart finished fifth in the Nacra 17, their best result together since joining forces following Wilkinson's Olympic bronze medal campaign with Erica Dawson.
Sean and Rowan Kensington placed 33rd in the 49er fleet after an impressive first international campaign in the class, while Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren finished 50th in the 93-boat fleet. In the 49erFX, Nicola and Rebecca Hume ended the championship 46th overall, continuing to gain valuable experience against the world's best crews.
