Hattie Rogers wins Women’s International Moth World Championship at Manly Sailing Club in New Zealand while competing against America’s Cup, SailGP and Olympic Games sailors
Lymington sailor Hattie Rogers has had a remarkable start to the New Year after winning the Women’s International Moth World Championship down at Manly Sailing Club in New Zealand.
The victory was sweet, coming against the finest sailors drawn from the America’s Cup, SailGP and the Olympic Games, writes Magnus Wheatley.
Long considered to be the pinnacle championship in dinghy sailing, the 11-foot International Moth rides above the water on foils, reaching astonishing speeds of upwards of 39 knots, and is where nearly all of the world’s top sailing professionals have honed their skills.
Winning the world championship was a goal that Rogers had set herself after spending last summer with the Athena Pathway programme at the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, where she was part of both the youth and women’s America’s Cup teams for Great Britain.
The International Moth was a logical step up from the WASZP class, where she won the world title in December 2023 and the national and European titles.
In tough conditions in New Zealand and in a new boat to master, with big waves and winds up to 30 knots during the early qualification rounds, Rogers showed remarkable consistency. Race after race, she proved that she could compete with the men despite being considerably lighter than the top sailors.
After eight races across two fleets, a split was made between the gold and silver fleets, with Rogers being the only woman to make the gold fleet, winning the women’s world championship with two days to spare.
Speaking afterwards about the racing, a delighted Rogers said: “It was probably the hardest regatta of my life with two main foil breakages and some very tough conditions, but I just had to keep being focussed on consistency, sailing smoothly and keep the racing as simple as possible.
“Sailing at speeds upwind in excess of 20 knots and over 30 knots downwind, closing speeds were insane and truly exhilarating, particularly in the gold fleet where the fleet was so compressed as the standard was so high. I was really pleased with the speed of my boat upwind, but flap issues on my main foil meant downwind was trickier.
“It’s a dream come true to win the women’s world championship, something I’ve wanted and have been working towards for some time.”
Rogers had focused heavily on this regatta, arriving in Auckland some eight weeks before the event began to undergo serious race preparation, venue acclimatisation, sailing, and training with the best sailors in the world.
“For sure, it was an intense build-up,” she said. “The training was very hard, and I learned a huge amount from my training partners, including the men who were in some of the top placings at the worlds.”
It was a family affair, with parents Simon and Reb, plus brother Tom, all travelling to New Zealand to support Rogers in her endeavour.
Rogers’ path to the World Championship was challenging in terms of logistics and the sheer cost of competing at the highest level. With the International Moth being an open development class within set parameters, the need for the latest equipment saw Rogers exercise her commercial skills to make it to the start line. Support came from New Forest-based international superyacht brokerage Cecil-Wright, alongside luxury candle maker and perfumery La Bougie, as well as significant support from silent benefactors.
“Without the fabulous support of my sponsors, there’s no way that I could compete at this level against the best in the world. They have been simply amazing, and I just can’t thank them all enough,” said Rogers.
Now with a second world championship title on her CV in just 13 months, the sky is the limit for this supreme sailing talent who sailed under the burgee of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club.
Yachting journalist and America’s Cup aficionado Magnus Wheatley reckons she’s on a fast track to the very top, saying: “Hattie is very much the face of an exciting new generation of foiling talent that is coming through fast to the very pinnacle of the sailing world.
“I have long held the view that Hattie will be a part of a winning British America’s Cup campaign as a key member of the team. Her time at the top is near. She is an incredible talent, and the International Moth World Championship is a significant marker on what looks like being a very long professional career.”
Rogers is setting her sights on defending her world title at Lake Garda, Italy, later this summer, but for now, Lymington can be very proud of its latest sailing world champion, an icon of women’s dinghy sailing, an inspiration to the next generation, and one that is set to dominate the sport of foiling for a while to come.