USA wins Youth Match Racing Worlds

Morgan Pinckney (USA) and his team of Kelly Holthus, Cam Spriggs, Jacob Posner, and Alice Schmid won the 2026 Youth Match Racing World Championships, held June 22-25 in Middelfart, Denmark. Twelve teams representing 11 nations competed in Blu26 sportsboats, with Pinckney beating Daniel Kemp (AUS) 3-2 in the Finals.

After round-robin stage was complete, Kemp topped the field at 9-2 while Pinckney was in third place with an 8-3 mark, which was equaled by four other teams.

The American team breezed through the quarterfinals and semifinals, earning 3-0 decisions over Great Britain and France, respectively, to advance to the Final with Kemp.

With the championship on the line, the two teams needed five races to decide the winner. After dropping the first race, USA claimed the next two, only to fall in Race 4, which knotted the best-of-five series at 2-2. In the fifth-and-deciding contest, USA came from behind for the victory and world youth crown.

“Even though we got the start right, and the umpires gave Daniel (Kemp, AUS) a penalty, I got a little nervous on the first beat, and he reeled us back in,a’ said Pickney about the final race.

“He got ahead and killed his penalty, then we got ahead just before the last windward mark and managed to stay in the lead until the finish thanks to great crew work – I am so happy to be sailing with these guys.” – Details