New Zealand sailor Sam Meech has won the laser junior world championship which finished in La Rochelle, France, overnight (NZT).
More accustomed to competing alongside the world's best in the Olympic class senior laser fleet at World Cup sailing regattas, Meech fits the under-21 age bracket required to compete forthe junior world title, and he made it look easy.
He said the format of four qualifying days made all the results close, keeping the pressure on right until the last race.
Meech took eight wins from the 12-race series, which was contested by 147 sailors from around the world.
He finished nine points clear of silver medalist Alex Mills-Barton (Britain). Martin Evans, also from Britain, took third.
"It is really cool to have won the regatta. I went to the event aiming to win, so I am really happy to have achieved it," Meech said afterwards.
"The conditions were great for sailing, although we could have done without the rain earlier on in the week. We ended up getting about 10-15 knots just about every day so it was easy to get all the races completed.
Two other New Zealanders at the event, Spencer Loxton and Michael Cate, finished 30th and 56th respectively.
