AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Earning the opportunity to repesent their country, four Stanford sailors helped the United States earn a silver medal at the 2020 Harken Youth Match Racing World Championships. Jack Parkin skippered the vessel, while the three members of the crew came from the Cardinal, Wiley Rogers, Jacob Rosenberg, and Victoria Thompson.
The Stanford group earned the opportunity to participate by virtue of its fall championship on Nov. 3 in the Match Racing National Championship. The second-place finish is the highest for the United States in the event's history.
The Cardinal-led boat earned a 3-1 victory in the semifinals over Australia's Finn Tapper, including three-consecutive wins to close the matchup. A similar story highlighted the quarterfinal, with the team pushing past another Australian boat, skippered by Jordan Stevenson, with triumphs in back-to-back-to-back races to take a 3-1 win. The American boat qualified in seventh place in the opening round, and won the repechage round with four wins to build momentum towards the final.
The Australian squad led by James Hodgson earned victories in the first three matches of the championship to secure the event championship.
Parkin, Rogers and Rosenberg sail as skippers for the Cardinal, while Thompson has consistently crewed with Parkin this season. The Stanford sailing season continues March 7-8 with three regattas on the east coast.