Kate & Madi - Sailing RS Feva World Champs 2022 in Weymouth, UK.

Hi team,

We are bringing a championship trophy and two newly crowned world champions back to Maraetai, Kate and Madi have done it, they finished their regatta in 8th place overall and first females making them the RS Feva Female world champions for 2022. All their hard work and training has come through. Your support throughout the past few months has been amazing and the girls and families are extremely grateful!

The girls sailed 2 races on the final day but it wasn't smooth sailing. They came into the races with a 3 point gap between them and the Netherlands girls team, so they had to beat the Netherlands crew in the races to clinch the world title. They had a good start and showed great speed in the first race to beat the Netherlands team by 10 places meaning they had a 7 point lead over them with 1 race to go. A 7 point lead means the Netherlands team have to beat Kate and Madi by 8 positions in the race. Which had proved a hard task because the Maraetai girls had shown great consistency in gold fleet with only one race outside the top 30 placings. Whereas the Netherlands team had a few worse scores they had to carry. This meant it was a question of could Kate and Madi hold their nerve and beat the Netherlands girls or be no worse than 8 places behind them.

To add to the tension their was some starting penalties handed out and 6 boats were disqualified for being over the line early, meaning an early shower. The girls remained cool, calm and collected and listened and took onboard sage advice to not get any penalties. So they started the 8th and final race in a safe position. It wasn't the best way to start but safe was what they needed to win and their wise young heads knew they had to be cautious and confident.

They had great speed again to sail back through the fleet to a respectable 23rd with the Netherlands combo safely in check-mate behind them. They were greeted at the finish line with cheers and applause. And sailed in with grins from ear to ear.

Back on land. Mr Kent Russel looked like he needed 3 stents and a stiff rum.

But both Dad's were the first to greet the young champions with cheers, high 5s and many cheers and applause. Other competitors congratulated them and the girls quickly began to work on their trading of sailing gear. The goal is to swap with the other sailors and have a cool looking kit back in NZ

The circus of packing 2 excited girls suitcases without the logistics and event managers (mums) was a sight that nearly sent Wade (coach) into early retirement.

We are now heading home! With 1 trophy and a set of 2 medals for winning the world championship and also another set of medals for finishing in the top 10 overall.

This has been a fantastic experience for us all and I would like to thank our fantastic coach Wade Tresadern for taking these girls under his wing and giving so much of his time and experience. Also a huge shout out to all the friends and family support it’s been absolutely amazing. Thank you all again for your kind donations that has contributed hugely to this amazing achievement.