Australian sailors deliver breakthrough performances at 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 Worlds
by Lisa Darmanin / Australian Sailing Team 13 Oct 09:45 NZDT
7-12 October 2025
Ferugson and Hilderbrand - 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships © Sailing Energy
From light airs to heavy breeze, Sardinia served up a full spectrum of conditions as the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships came to a dramatic close. Australia's rising stars shone across the classes, delivering personal bests and signalling a bright trajectory toward LA 2028.
Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown made a statement in the Nacra 17 fleet, mixing it with the world's best and fighting all the way to the final race to secure a career-best fourth place finish. "That's our best result at a World Championships," shared Brown. "Previously we've got a 20th, a 19th, and an 18th, and now we've jumped to fourth, so it's quite a nice incline and hopefully we can get into first for the next one."
Reflecting on their rapid rise, Liddell explained, "We put a lot of effort in for this last year. I think we've probably done the most hours on water compared to all the other (returning 2024) Olympic combinations. We didn't really take our foot off the pedal after the Olympics, and probably that time in the boat has really made the difference."
"A big shout out to the other two Aussie teams as well, Archie and Sarah and Jake and Niamh, two personal best results for them, so it's really good job from the rest of the squad," added Liddell.
In the 49er class, Jack Ferguson and Jack Hildebrand delivered a personal-best performance, finishing 14th after a strong qualifying series that saw them leading the fleet heading into the finals. "Jack and I are pretty proud of our achievement here at the Worlds. A personal best is nice," said Ferguson. "We've been putting in good work at home to come away with this result."
Their results mark a breakthrough moment for the young pair as they continue to gain momentum in one of sailing's most competitive classes, "In qualifying, we were racing really well," Ferguson shared. "We had the boat going really well, and now we've proven that we're world-class in that particular condition, we know what we need to work on, we can start filling some of those gaps and hopefully become a more complete package for next season."
It was a challenging end to the regatta for 49erFX pair Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot, who showed flashes of brilliance with multiple top-three finishes throughout the week. However, a few turbulent races and costly penalties saw them slip down the leaderboard.
"It was a really tough event for us," shared Wilmot. "We started pretty strong and then towards the end just couldn't find enough opportunities within the fleet and within the course to really punch forward and get ahead. We had a few too many incidents and ended up in the jury room a few too many times, so that really hurt us. So, moving forward definitely trying to stay out of the jury room and leaving it all on the water instead."
Despite the setback, the duo continues to demonstrate strong potential and resilience as they build towards LA2028. "We're excited to go back home and take these learnings into our National Training Centre," said Harding. "Spend some time in the Australian summer and do some regattas down there with the Aussie fleet."
Wilmot added, "Next year is a really condensed year of racing. It's all condensed to the start of the year, so we're trying to get all the learnings that we can over our summer and then hit the ground running when we hit Europe."
Australian Sailing Team High Performance Director, Iain Brambell, was on the ground and water in Cagliari supporting the team and assessing progress towards LA2028 and the talent pipeline to a home Olympic in Brisbane 2032.
"In comparison to the Paris 2024 cycle, this has been a collectively stronger start across all three squads," observed Brambell. "With leader jerseys worn in both the 49erFX and 49er fleets throughout the week, and a top four finish for the Nacra, we've demonstrated strong potential and genuine depth within the team."
"At the same time, this event has helped confirm the performance gaps that require our focused attention during the domestic season. The next seven months will be critical as we prepare for the 2026 World Championships and continue to build towards LA 2028."
This event marks the conclusion of the 2025 international season for the Australian Sailing Team, with athletes now returning home for a brief reset and gearing up for an even bigger and better 2026.
Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Pathway Team (ASPT), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) and other Australian results (AUS) at the World Championship:
Nacra 17 - 40 Entries
4th - Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown (ASPT)
11th - Archie Gargett and Sarah Hoffman (ASPT)
13th - Jake Liddell (ASPT) and Niamh Meehan (ASF)
36th - Kenzie Gargan and Gian Bilston (AUS)
49er - 84 Entries
14th - Jack Ferguson and Jack Hildebrand (ASPT)
24th - Harry Price (AUS) and Max Paul (ASPT)
29th - Otto Henry and Shaun Connor (ASPT)
53rd - Kurt Hansen (AUS) and Charlie Zeeman (ASF)
81st - Daniel Links and Keizo Tomishima (ASF)
49erFX - 52 Entries
21st - Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot (AST)
37th - Brooke Wilson (ASF) and Evie Haseldine (ASPT)
38th - Mina Ferguson and Dervla Duggan (ASF)
40th - Seisia Mair and Stella Hurley (ASF)