James Mayo (OR85) on 'Magpie' match races to win 2025 Etchells World Championship in Perth in January. Magpie AUS1486 skippered by Graeme Taylor with James Mayo have defended their title in the 2024 Etchells World Championship with crew member Ben Lamb with a classic match race to finish off the series. 

 At the end of the penultimate race, the scores were tied between USA1473 DanEgerous skippered by John Dane III with Eric Doyle and Bill Hardesty, and for the first time a different team was on top of the leaderboard with DanEgerous having more heat wins.

Magpie had a worst discard of 7, while second placed DanEgerous had a discard of 16, meaning that Magpie could not be defeated for second place, but could lose the win. So there was no option, it would come down to a boat on boat battle for the regatta title. The match racing began from the time the Orange Flag was hoisted (start line on station), five minutes before the warning signal for the race. It continued right until the finish line. Magpie started slightly to leeward of DanEgerous, and when John Dane III tacked onto port, Magpie followed, and the teams went well beyond the starboard layline. 

OIU News manages to have a quick chat with James about the race!

OIU news: The conditions looked extraordinary, very bright and sunny, although there was a storm on the second last day. 

James: We had nine races. In terms of the last race, we led the whole regatta from start to finish. There were two races on the last day, and then we drew equal points going into the second race on the last day. Basically, we had a better drop than the other boat. We had a seventh and he had a 16. If he finished better than seventh, he would win the Regatta. But if he finished anything past seventh, he would lose the Regatta. So, we went into what's called a match race prior to the start and we took control from the five-minute gun. We were able to get an advantage straight off the start. OIU news: Tell us about your overall winning strategy? 

James: You must have tactics. You have got to understand the currents. You need to have teamwork. You must be really good at understanding sail shapes. You have to know engineering in terms of all the wires. You've got to be physically at the very top of your game because you're up against multiple Olympians and they're a lot younger. 

OIU news: Congratulations once again James on your back-to-back success at the Etchell World Championships. The next World Championship for the Etchells class will be held from the San Diego Yacht Club, 10-15 May 2026. 

Check out some footage from the event here:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=embed_video&v=1850111369153443