Maloney's training partner and good mate Josh Junior won the bronze in Portugal, as a selfless partnership at odds with a lot of sporting methods these days continues to pay dividends.
The Finn GoldCup is the annual world championship for one of the oldest and most revered international sailing classes. Designed in Sweden in 1949 the Finn has been an elite Olympic class since 1952, with the first Finn Gold Cup World Championship held in 1956.
New Zealand won the Olympic Games gold way back in 1984, Sir Russell Coutts making the breakthrough. But a Kiwi hadn't won this world title until Josh Junior's victory two years ago.
The event was scrapped last year because of Covid-19 so this Kiwi gold-bronze success in Porto is an outstanding result.
Josh Junior (NZL) during the 2019 Finn Gold Cup - Melbourne, Australia. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Maloney and Junior's commitments with Team New Zealand in the high-tech America's Cup make this result in a traditional class of sailing even more remarkable. They haven't raced in the Finns for over a year.
The recipe the two have used is an important lesson that can be applied not only in the sporting context, but in other aspects of life where difficult and challenging objectives are set.
The "Maloney – Junior Model" (as I think it should be called) is one of cooperation and collaboration.
Disadvantaging your opponent is the standard recipe for standing on the top of the podium. But Maloney and Junior rejected this approach, even though only one can be selected for the Olympics.
They formed a training partnership of total sharing, so both might become the best in the world. The last two world championships suggest it is working superbly.
Andy Maloney (NZL) in the Finn class racing. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
New Zealand's size and isolation makes competing at a world-class level challenging. There are very few sports where we have the depth of talent, the resources and the local competition needed to succeed.
Having the courage and the humility to approach things differently is critical. Doing it the same as everyone else will not work.
Maloney and Junior (with the coaching support of Andrew Murdoch and John Cutler etc.) and the support of their families and the wider sailing community have shown a different way.
While only one of them can represent New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics, the other will be as much a part of the success.
In my view, what should happen when you look up the word "teammate-ship" in the dictionary, you should simply find a photo of Andy Maloney and Josh Junior there.
