From Adelaide to Mar Del Plata: 2024 IODA World Championships

After winning the 2024 Australian Nationals in Adelaide, I’d been waiting for 12 months to finally get to Mar Del Plata, Argentina, for the IODA World Championship. It felt like forever, but we were finally there, ready to race!

We hit a bit of a roadblock on Day 1. None of our luggage or gear made it to Buenos Aires with us. So, no sails, no equipment — just us stuck waiting around. We headed to the sailing club to check out where our charter boats were and get a feel for the place. Once our equipment finally showed up, we grabbed our boats and prepped them for our first training session. But as soon as we hit the water, we realized how different the conditions were. The rumours we’d heard and the pictures we’d seen didn’t even come close to what it was like. Huge swells, waves crashing over us, and winds at 20 to 25 knots — it was insane!

Even with the wind and rain, the opening ceremony was awesome. All the teams walked down the main street behind a band. There were airplanes flying overhead, dancers, and all kinds of other local stuff happening. It was a fun way to kick off the event even though we were all tired and a bit soaked.

When the races started, the weather didn’t give us any breaks. The start line was insane — sometimes the swell was so big we couldn’t even see the start boat or the pin boat. Keeping our position was really hard. The whole experience was a huge learning curve, and we really had to dig deep. There were 225 of us racing, split into three groups of 75, and the competition was fierce. We had three days of qualifying, then a team racing event, and finally two days of finals.

Four of our team made it to the Silver Fleet, and one made it into the Bronze Fleet. As the finals kicked off, the conditions eased a bit, and I was able to make a big jump, finishing 89th overall considering how tough the conditions were.

Looking back, the conditions were crazy, but that’s what sailing is all about.  The whole experience was incredible. The regatta wasn’t just about racing — it was about pushing through the toughest moments, learning a ton, and realizing that sometimes the hardest conditions lead to the best memories.

Murray Duthie AUS 1516