Wanting to put a team together to compete in international regattas, Megan Thomson’s plan was almost capsized before it went afloat.
Now a back-to-back world women’s match racing silver medallist with her 2.0 Racing team, those early wobbles were merely opportunities for the group to build.
“Covid shut us down pretty quickly, but if anything that was actually really good for us because, I mean, we did so much racing locally,” Thomson told the Herald.
“Kiwis are very strong in yachting, so we got the opportunity to race against a lot of locals and I think that really helped us grow our strength here and be ready to hit the world stage.”
Thomson was one of a group out of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron youth training programme looking to continue on with the sport in 2019. But without much of a pathway outside of going into the Olympic classes, they had to forge their own way.
They launched 2.0 Racing, an all-women’s match racing team to compete against international opposition.
“There’s not really been much of a pathway after youth sailing unless you’re going into Olympic, high-performance stuff so we kind of all stepped away from sailing for a few years, found match racing, and were like, oh this is a cool way we can still compete at a high level but also have other things going on.
“Now we’re really trying to push to make that a bit more of a pathway and really show that this is something that you can do alongside your other sailing, alongside other things as well.”
Thomson skippered the team to a consecutive runner-up finish at the world championships in Chicago last month, backing up the silver medal they won in Saudi Arabia in December at the 2024 regatta.
Both years saw familiar line-ups, with Charlotte Porter, Josi Andres and Tiana Wittey returning alongside Thomson, while rising British foiling star Hattie Rogers joined the team after being a part of the United Kingdom’s Athena Pathway teams for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona.
Rogers took the place of Anna Merchant, who was unavailable for the campaign.
Thomson estimated she would spend about seven months away from New Zealand through the campaign, with it costing the five-strong team about $50,000.
“It’s sort of the best way for us, being so far away from all the sailing, is we don’t have the funds to fly backwards and forwards, so we leave home in March, April at the start of the season and then we couch surf and make ends meet until it’s time to head home. That’s been the best way we’ve found financially possible to do it.”
For the second straight year, they were bested by the French team skippered by Pauline Courtois in the final of the world championships.
“It’s super exciting, and a little bit bittersweet, to be honest,” Thomson said.
“I think we really thought we had them [the French team] this year and we felt so confident going into it. But nonetheless, it’s still also really cool to walk away with second, and I think as much as we really want that gold, it’s also a really cool achievement for the team to have backed it up for a second year in a row.”
Thomson’s group was one of two Kiwi crews competing at the world championships, with the Edge Women’s Match team of Celia Willison, Clare Costanzo, Phoebe Buckland, Serena Woodall and Ruby Scholten finishing ninth.
Looking ahead, Thomson said there would have to be some discussion as to what the future held for 2.0 Racing, but getting so close to a world championship title - again - added fuel to the fire.
“The same happened last year where it was like, this will be our last push, but I think as soon as you’re so close, the drive and the want to go again is definitely there. I think across the team, it’s very split. We’ve got to go and some are sort of looking at other projects, but I think it’s pretty likely you’ll see us on the start line again next year,” she said.
“The girls have slowly come and gone over the years. A lot of the team have gone on to buy houses, start real jobs, and they come and go, so we’ve got a base of about seven to eight girls back home in New Zealand who, whenever suits, come and join us for an event, and when it doesn’t suit, unfortunately can’t come along.
“It’s so cool for us to be able to still have careers on the side or have other projects going on and yet still be able to come and compete in a sport on a world stage. I think that’s one of the coolest things about sailing.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.