Earlier this Month, Team LSquared (Luke Rogers and Lucas Patrick) travelled to Aarhus Denmark to compete at the 2024 29er World Championships and were so excited to join this regatta and compete at the world class, Aarhus International Sailing Centre.

We arrived a week before the regatta to allow time to set up the charter boat and train with the Australian squad consisting of 7 crews from Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia. During the lead up to the regatta we were fortunate enough to do some practice racing with teams from other countries including Germany, Italy, and Denmark.

In the days leading up to the regatta, our competitors arrived in from all around the world, mainly from mainland Europe. This was the largest World Championships ever held, with 260 boats competing.

After a smooth measurement process, the regatta officially began. First up, was a 3-day qualifying series with light and choppy conditions that were surprisingly warm and sunny.

On the first day of qualifying, we spent a few hours postponed on shore, then began with a moderate, westerly breeze that was shifty and flat but favoured us on the racecourse. Day Two was consistent with completely different conditions of an easterly breeze which was more stable and lighter. The last day of qualifying saw challenging conditions and despite dropping back a few places, we were still in great shape and most importantly qualified for Gold Fleet.

During the 3 days of finals racing, it was a predominantly a light choppy swell, which made it difficult to keep maximum speed. We kept pushing and were rewarded with consistent results and an exciting win, which was a real highlight. On the last day, conditions were fresh and we were postponed with 30 knots in morning. Once this subsided, only gold and silver fleets went out to race. We managed to complete the last 3 races of the regatta in hectic conditions including a massive swell coming in from the ocean and rain squalls rolling through all day.

We finished 10^th overall. The points were very tight with only 5 points separating 5^th to 10^th. Overall, our performance included a qualifying race win, a gold fleet race win and multiple top 5 finishes in both of the series.

The European 29er teams compete in large scale regattas multiple times a year including 6 Eurocups, European Championships, World Championships and other events like Keil Week. They also train in large squads regularly. On the other hand, over the last 2 years much of our training has been working on the basics. To be competitive in this fleet was very encouraging, and we would love the opportunity to sail regularly with these nations.

Overall, it was another amazing experience to race at this level. We have learnt so much and we encourage any RQ youth crew to chase these opportunities if they can.

Thanks to all the support from the Squadron and everyone back home during the event and over the last 2 years.

– Team LSquared