Two young Australian sailors, Nathaniel McCarthy and Owen Harris, headed to Sardinia for the 2026 O'pen Skiff World Championships, and came home with a story worth telling both on and off the water.

Calasetta drew 166 sailors from 13 nations, all launching into the San Pietro Channel for a week of racing in front of the town's white houses and the old Savoy Tower. For McCarthy and Harris, it was their first Worlds together, and Sardinia proved a fitting stage for it.

One of the proudest moments of the trip came before a single race was sailed. Australia led the parade of nations at the opening ceremony, and McCarthy and Harris carried the flag out together, side by side. They were the first team into the arena, representing Australia in front of every other nation there.

The racing itself served up a full mix of conditions. The first two days brought a proper Mistral out of the northwest, strong and testing, before it swung around to a lighter 7–10 knot south-westerly that suited a different group of sailors altogether. Fourteen races were completed across the week, with wind on every single day. Calasetta and the Channel lived up to their reputation as a serious venue.

Owen Harris - O'pen Skiff World Championships

McCarthy raced in the Under 17 fleet, which ran two days of qualifying before splitting into Gold and Silver. Bumped into the Silver Fleet after qualifying, he put together the best sailing of his week from there, finishing in the top five of the Silver Fleet by the end of the regatta. It was a strong result at his first Worlds, against sailors from all over the world.

Harris raced in the Under 13 fleet, where there was no Gold/Silver split. Every sailor stayed in the one fleet for the whole regatta, so every race counted straight toward the final result, with nowhere to hide from day one. He was right in the mix with the leaders for most of the week, before the final day turned extremely light and shifty and cost him a place or two. He still finished 8th in the world in the U13 category, out of a fantastic and talented international fleet.

"Every race mattering from the first gun made it feel like a final all week, there was no easing into it." Owen Harris

Off the water, Calasetta gave the pair plenty of time to enjoy the experience too. Between race days they headed into town, grabbed food together and got to know sailors from other countries, the kind of friendships that come from sharing a regatta like this one. They even found time for wingfoiling and windsurfing, never ones to skip a chance to build those skills in a new country and new conditions, with both boys loving every minute on the water.

The event's social night gave everyone another great chance to mix, share local food, and trade shirts and other goodies. Australian gear was in high demand, with only two Australians at the regatta, and koalas and kangaroos proved a big hit. Language barriers were easily overcome when everyone shared the same passion for being out on the water.

For both sailors, Calasetta was a checkpoint rather than a destination. There's more racing ahead this season, and everything they picked up in Sardinia, in the boat and off the water, is something they'll carry into what's next. Both McCarthy and Harris have their sights set on the big dream shared by every young sailor: representing their country at the 2032 Olympics.

WORDS: Mark McCarthy and Bluey Harris

IMAGES: O'pen Skiff Worlds Championships