By SUZANNE McpdccpeFADDEN
Kiwi teenager Mark Kennedy has beaten his father and brother for a world championship title in the new 29er skiff yachting class.
Kennedy and his skipper Mike Bassett became the inaugural world champions on Lake Garda in Italy on Saturday, leap-frogging Kennedy's dad Lindsay and younger brother Scott on
the final day. They had to settle for bronze.
New Zealanders dominated the 80-strong fleet in the new 29er, the baby brother of the new Olympic boat, the 49er.
Bassett and Kennedy are both former P-class champions and have been virtually unbeaten in the new skiff since it was introduced a year ago.
They already held titles for the Pacific Rim, Australian nationals and the New Zealand nationals - both senior and junior.
Going into the final day of racing, the pair were fourth overall, but a win and second in their last races catapulted them to world champion status.
They also collected the world youth title.
Australians Euan McNicol and John Winning dropped to the silver medal, while Scott and Lindsay Kennedy held third.
There were more Kiwi family ties on the medal dais. Bassett's sister Shelley and her crewmate Kate O'Brien won silver in the women's championship behind British sailors Charlotte Odell and Susie Webber.
The other New Zealanders in the fleet finished well inside the top 20 - Brad Thom and Andrew Burgess 10th, and Geoff Woolley and Scott Wilkinson 13th.
