Josh Hyde and Waitematā Racing are the 2026 Oceanbridge New Zealand Match Racing Champions, completing a 3–0 final victory over Ethan Fong's Quest Racing at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
The clean sweep in Sunday's final belied a far tighter contest in the semi-finals. Harry Thurston had Hyde trailing 2–1 and facing elimination before the Waitematā Racing skipper won two consecutive races to advance. Fong endured similar pressure from Noah Malpot, who had beaten him in both round robin encounters and took the first two races of their semi-final. Quest Racing had lost four straight to Malpot when Fong turned the series around with three consecutive wins.
The championship marked the return of the MRX keelboats for the first time since 2011. The 10.3 metre Bruce Farr designs, built in Auckland for the 1990 World Match Racing Championship, carry symmetrical spinnakers and require larger crews than the Elliott 7s used in recent editions.
"It was so much fun finally getting to match race the MRX," Hyde told RNZYS after Saturday's qualifying, where Waitematā Racing topped the standings with seven wins from ten races. "We had a big learning curve today and hope to keep the momentum up and build through the finals series."
Thurston, who had won four previous national titles as crew, skippered this year and pushed Hyde to the limit. After losing the opening race of their semi-final, he won the next two before Hyde closed out the series. Thurston recovered to defeat Malpot 2–0 for third place.
Fong, ranked No. 2 in the world, had beaten Hyde 3–2 at the New Zealand Youth Match Racing Worlds Trials earlier this year, and their Saturday qualifying races were split one apiece. The final offered no such parity.
Hyde's national title follows his first senior international match racing title at the Chicago Grand Slam in August. His championship record finished at 13 wins from 18 races.
Final standings
1. Josh Hyde (Waitematā Racing)
Crew: Nick Drummond, Jack Frewin, Mason Mulcahy, Marin Armstrong-Wills, Nelsen Meacham and Oliver Lloyd.
2. Ethan Fong (Quest Racing)
Crew: Lucas Day, Hugo McMullen, Ollie Gilmore, Wilbur Stanley and Sam Clarke.
3. Harry Thurston (VMG Racing Team)
Crew: Guy Pilkington, Robbs Hielkema, Arnau Farras-Knowles, Jon Barnett and Theodore Graham.
4. Noah Malpot (Team Beau Geste)
Crew: Rye Brady, Zak Merton, Luca Smith, Tayne Haag, Will Mason and Robbie Wooldridge.
5. Sam Scott (LJ’s Racing)
Crew: Finn Balchin, Tim McCulloch, Ben Roff, Macgregor Jones, James Hopkins and Alissa Marshall.
6. Erica Dawson (ETNZ)
Crew: Molly Meech, George Lee Rush, Serena Woodall, Lachlan Wills, Matt Steven and Helena Sanderson.
Crew names follow the published RNZYS entry lists.
