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Rory McKinna and Jess Wong emerged as unexpected World Champions in the Hansa 303 two-person class, which concluded in Australia on 30 March.

It was a serendipitous turn of events that brought Rory of  and Jess, a native of Sydney, together. Their successful partnership, born out of a chance meeting during the Pittwater Regatta, led them to sail to victory in the World Championships.

“I was originally only going to sail in the 303 One Person event and decided late that I would also sail in the Two Person event,” Rory, 23, explained.

“I asked Chris Symonds if he knew anyone… Through him, Jess (an Australian) came to sail with me, and she is new to sailing Hansas. We’d not met, let alone sailed together before. You know within five minutes of being in the boat whether it will work out or not – and I knew it would.”

“Pretty much as soon as we pushed off the pontoon, I knew we'd get along and that we weren't going to be tripping over each other in the boat, and we got into rhythm quite quickly.” 

Rory and Jess won the Hansa 303 Two-Person Worlds from Chris Symonds and Maunela Klinger (AUS) and Piotr Cichocki and Olga Górnas-Grudzien (POL), after the Polish series leaders took a penalty in Race 5, that dropped them to third place overall and cost them the world crown. 

Miserable grey skies and strong winds at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club on Pittwater called cancellation on the last day’s racing, and with it a final push for an additional world title for Rory in the singles fleet.

But the rain would not dampen the spirits of the smiling Scotsman, racing for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere, and who particularly enjoyed a day’s sailing around Scotland Island on the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

“[The win] was very unexpected. It really was, because I never, never envisaged being on podium never mind first in the doubles! 

“There was a there was a great sense of pride, going up on that podium, and there was a great sense of nervousness - I was explaining to Jess that I get the shakes more going up onto a podium than I do on a start line.” 

Keen to build on this success going forward, Rory is already eyeing his next goal: 

“The European season starts in mid-April, just as I arrive back from Aus. I’ll be home, boat re-rigged and loaded, and off to the Belgian nationals in a matter of days!” 

Rory is also looking forward to his return to Scotland, where he is an avid promoter of accessible opportunities within sailing through work with 911��ƷSailability and 911��ƷScotland’s Participation and Development Committee. He hopes his efforts will help inspire more people to get involved in the sport. 

Offering advice to any young sailors starting out in the sport, Rory advises grabbing opportunities wherever possible: 

“Just go and do things…ask people how to do things, where to do things, and just go and try them.” 

The British Hansa Worlds team, made up of Paul Phillips and Tessa Watkiss (Liberty), Kirsten Pollock and Brett Pearce (Skud), Rory McKinna, Logan Bell, Max Rumball, and Leslie Phillips (303), had a fantastic championship. Congratulations to the Hansa Class and the RYA's Brett Cockayne for supporting the team. 

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Image credits Alex Dare/Hansa Worlds