2025 Offshore Double Handed World Championships - Kiwis Clinch Golden Ticket in a Dramatic Repechage
by Louay Habib / RORC 29 Sep 2025 07:37 AEST
22 September - 1 October 2025
After two qualifying races, ten teams from nine nations had already booked their places in the final of the 2025 Offshore Double Handed World Championships. One final berth remained; the winner of the nerve-shredding Repechage Race.
After 89 miles of nonstop drama, and a protest hearing that briefly cast doubt over the outcome, New Zealand’s Aaron Hume-Merry and Anna Merchant (NZL 1) emerged victorious, clinching the last golden ticket to Monday’s final. This was a brutal result for James Whelan and Stacey Jackson (AUS 1). The Australian team missed out in their qualifier as well as the Repechage Race, by a single place.
On the joy of making the final, Merchant and Hume-Merry commented: “It’s been a bit of a journey to get here for us, so to actually know that we’re on the start line for the final tomorrow is just super exciting. We’re stoked. The finish was epic, really close and to do it through the Repechage made it even more special. There was so much pressure knowing only one team could qualify, so we’re just thrilled to have pulled it off.”
The race delivered everything offshore fans could want, relentless lead changes, breathtaking duels, and a nail-biting finish separated by just over two minutes. With survival in the championships on the line, crews from New Zealand, Australia, France, Italy, and early on Jesse Fielding and Leandra Sweet (USA 1), went to war across the Solent and beyond.
Drama at the Front
The battle at the front was epic. James Whelan and Stacey Jackson (AUS 1) stormed clear off The Needles, only for the Kiwis to claw back ground at Bembridge. Charles Henon and Clara Bayol (FRA 2) and Italy’s Arianna Liconti and Francesco Farci (ITA 2) pushed hard, refusing to let the Antipodean duel become a two-boat affair.
At Peveril Ledge four teams were still in the hunt, with AUS 1 looking fast on the charge back east. They held a quarter-mile lead at Bridge and still had the upper hand at St Catherine’s Point, but Hume-Merry and Merchant never blinked. FRA 2 and ITA 2 joined the breakaway pack, keeping the pressure high as the decisive final miles unfolded.
East of the Isle of Wight, with sheets cracked and speeds climbing, AUS 1 and NZL 1 were locked together in a duel worthy of a world championship final, while FRA 2 hugged the inshore line, threatening to steal the show. NZL 1 surged into the lead at Bembridge, only for AUS 1 to snatch it back moments later. By No Man’s Land Fort, it looked like a three-way fight with nothing to choose between them.
The final sprint through the Solent was pure tension: NZL 1 covering every Australian move, AUS 1 throwing everything at them, FRA 2 had fallen off the pace but ITA 2 made a late dramatic inshore surge to briefly snatch the lead.
Kiwis Confirm Victory
After over twelve hours of racing, Hume-Merry and Merchant (NZL 1) crossed the line just 2 minutes and 33 seconds ahead of James Whelan and Stacey Jackson (AUS 1), with Liconti and Farci (ITA 2) taking third. A protest lodged by AUS 1 briefly held the result in limbo, but once dismissed, New Zealand’s triumph was confirmed — and with it, a place in the world championship final.
The Kiwi Story
For Hume-Merry, 36, and Merchant, 25, this result marks redemption. The pair competed in the 2024 Worlds but fell short of the final. Over the past seven years, they have logged thousands of miles racing two-handed, building the trust and resilience that shone through in this high-stakes showdown.
Hume-Merry began sailing Optimists at seven, represented New Zealand in the ILCA 7, then briefly stepped away from the water to trial for the Olympic track cycling team before returning to the sea via the RNZYS Performance Programme. Merchant is a graduate of the acclaimed RNZYS youth training system and has made her name on the World Match Racing Tour, including a podium finish at the 2024 Women’s Match Racing Worlds as part of Megan Thomson’s crew.
On the race itself and the Repechage format Merchant and Hume-Merry commented:
“The start was great for us — we got off the line well and straight onto the Code Zero. But we had a hiccup right at the first mark when the jib tack blew, so we had to slow everything down and stay cool to get it sorted. Later, a furling issue dropped us back, and suddenly we were in third. We had to think differently — we held high on the jib while everyone else rolled underneath, then got the A2 up first and managed to get back in front.
The closing stages were incredibly tense. The Aussies were breathing down our necks, the Italians came surging inshore, and the breeze was shutting down. It honestly could have gone to anyone right until the last moments.
We really like the addition of the Repechage this year. It pulls the fleet back together and ensures the strongest teams make it to the final. It also gives great sailors who miss out in the first two heats another chance to fight for a place. It made for an epic race and a worthy way to decide the last golden ticket.”
For the Kiwi duo, winning the Repechage was not just about survival — it was a statement. They will now line up in Monday’s grand final flying the Silver Fern for New Zealand.
The Final Ahead
The 2025 Offshore Double Handed World Championships will come to a dramatic conclusion with the Final scheduled to start at on Monday 29 September. One team will be crowned world champion at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse in Cowes— the culmination of an unforgettable week hosted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in collaboration with Cap-Regatta and supported by LGL and Jeanneau.
Results so far can be found here.