They’ve spent much of the last year working together toward the same goal, so it is only fitting that Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren will celebrate their proudest sailing moment as a 49er crew with the rest of their Kiwi teammates.
Kayrouz and McLaren claimed the silver medal overnight at the 2024 49er junior world championships in Galicia, Spain, capping a consistent regatta with a sensational final day.
In fourth place heading into the last three races, the young Auckland duo scored 2, 2, and 5 to secure second place, finishing 12 points behind winners Richard Schultheis and Youenn Bertin of Malta.
“It has to be,” Kayrouz said when asked if this result is the highlight of his and McLaren’s partnership in the skiff. “But, to be honest, we weren’t keeping track of the scores, and we only found out we’d won silver after the last race when we jumped into (coach) Markus Sommerville’s RIB.
“We knew at the start of the last day that the scores were close, and we were pretty pleased with the slightly heavier breeze. Things were quite shifty, so we were just trying to get off to a good start and into position to get a shift.”
Fellow Kiwis Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush finished fourth after leading during the early part of the regatta. Blake McGlashan and Mattias Coutts were 13th, with Brayden Hamilton and Monty Anderson 48th in the 60-boat fleet.
Kayrouz praised his teammates, who have been training together as a group for several years.
“We’re absolutely stoked with the result, and it’s down to the hard work of the entire group,” he said. “All the teams work together so well – everyone is open and willing to share information and ideas, and this success really is the group’s success.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Sommerville.
“It’s great to see Fran and Hamish being rewarded for all their hard work, but also that everyone is super happy for them,” Sommerville said. “It was a strong regatta for all the Kiwis —Blake and Mattias had a huge comeback. They were last in the gold fleet after qualifying and managed to get all the way up to 13th. That’s just proof of the depth we have in the class and the impressive growth we’ve seen over the last three years. We now have six teams working collectively for that common goal.”
Asked how he and McLaren would celebrate their silver medal, Kayrouz said: “I’m not sure yet, but I know we’ll be hanging out with the other Kiwis!”
Click here for the full results from the 2024 49er junior world championships.