The 2025 Asian and Oceanian Championship was hosted in Mussanah, Oman at the Barcelo Resort. This year’s regatta was organised by Oman Sail where over 180 sailors from 25 countries competed for top honours.
The New Zealand Team consisted of 4 sailors – Jeffrey Chenglin Du (Kohimarama Yacht Club), Holly Robson (Kohimarama Yacht Club), Zephyr Lane (Wakatere Boating Club) and Harry Strang (Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club) who were ably coached by Gauthier Thomas. I (Glen Strang) supported as Team Leader. It must be acknowledged that the team was also fortunate to have brilliant family support at the event with Jimmy Robson, Nate and Amanda Lane along with (big brother) Lance Du on hand to lend additional encouragement to our young sailors.
Our Team left New Zealand on 20 October to allow time to recover from the long flights and adjust to the new time zone. With the regatta commencing on 25 October (Opening Ceremony) our sailors had the opportunity to spend 3 days on the water and become accustomed to the local conditions. Early indications from the practice races amongst USA, Singapore and the Australian teams was that conditions would be light and wind direction was changeable.
The Opening ceremony was a real highlight. All teams were introduced and invited on stage where they could proudly wave their nations flags. Once the official welcome was delivered and the formalities were complete an amazing Oman style dinner awaited participants whilst entertainers danced, sang and offered camel rides!
The format for racing consisted of 2 days of fleet racing, 2 days of Teams Racing and then a final day of fleet racing (finals). As expected, Day 1 offered up some challenging conditions with very light winds. Sailors raced in 3 different fleets with approximately 60 boats in each. Amongst the NZ sailors Holly Robson had the strongest first day with a solid 24th and 16th. It was also clear the light wind specialists from Thailand, Singapore and the US were going to be dominant, they had secured top places after the first days racing and would take up residency at that end of the leader board for the remainder of the regatta.
Day 2 was frustrating for some with long delays. Everyone involved looked to stay out of the 35C+ heat, attempted to stay hydrated and waited for some consistent wind to arrive. After several hours delta was raised, and sailors left the beautiful Barcelo marina and started the short commute out to the race area in front of the resort. With only enough time for one race on Day2 (highlighted with Jeffrey, 13th and Zephyr, 16th) it was clear that Day 3 would become a “fleet racing” day in order to meet the qualifying race threshold.
The third day of fleet racing offered up much of the same in terms of conditions. After more delays, 2 races were completed, and this brought the qualifying to and end. Harry (14th) enjoyed his best day on the water and the rest of the New Zealand team did enough so that everyone would qualify in silver fleet for the final day of racing after Teams Racing had finished.
It appears that Teams Racing is very much the “main event” for many of the home nations at the Asian and Oceanian Regattas and 2025 was no different. Singapore (1 & 2), Thailand and Hong Kong always loom as heavy favourites and this year these teams showcased their sharp team racing skills and teamwork to progress through the stages. New Zealand faced China first up and they were clearly a well-coached and organised team who would look to dominate the NZ team from the start of the race. This was an enthralling battle which seemed to swing from one side to another. Harry secured 3 penalties against the Chinese, one in the very final sprint to the finish. The last vital penalty enabled time for a scramble on the line with Jeffrey making strong gains on the last upwind along with Holly and Zephyr contributing to a late surge on the line. It was too close to call and after a long wait it was confirmed NZ took the honours in a close race. NZ went on to battle Singapore (2) going down after another close finish. Given their first-round win and close loss to a strong Singapore team NZ went on to earn the title of top Oceanian Team. Singapore’s #1 team went on to win the Teams Racing overall title.
The 5th and last day of competition saw new fleets (Gold, Silver and Bronze) take to the finals with the four New Zealand sailors closely placed amongst a tough silver fleet. Both Jeffrey and Zephyr had great performances to round off the regatta. Jeffrey’s effort on the last day was good enough to secure third placed Oceanian boat overall and a place on podium at the closing ceremony.
The closing ceremony was a fitting finale to a very well-run regatta. The hosts pride in producing a memorable send-off was obvious and it was another highlight for all competitors and supporters. Hosted by H.E Dr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al Harrasi (Minister of Information) along with several other dignitaries and representatives from IODA we celebrated the crowing of champions across multiple categories. The experienced trio from Thailand (Gold), Singapore (Silver) and USA (Bronze) collecting the overall top three medals and were very deserving winners.
Having brought down the curtain on this years Asian and Oceanian Championship it was obvious that our team could all take so much away from this experience. Travelling abroad to compete offers up various challenges, and in dealing with some of these, each representative can reflect and know that not only did they do themselves proud but will return to compete in New Zealand as a much stronger, resilient and experienced sailor. Some of the friendships made will be lifelong too. Holly was a crowd favourite amongst her new Aussie flatmates and the three boys spent most of their time and made great friendships (along with collecting team gear and Instagram followers) with the South American teams and local Oman sailors.
Lasty I’d like to thank the other parents and our amazing coach Gauthier, for their commitment to making this trip such an easy and enjoyable time – Glen Strang, Asian and Oceanian Team Leader, 2025
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