Elusive to New Zealand sailors for many years, the prestigious Finn Gold Cup has been claimed by Kiwi Andy Maloney – the second Kiwi in 18 months to get his hands on the trophy.

Maloney went into the final day in Porto (Portugal) with a narrow five-point lead but banked three solid scores to win his first world title. What made it even more special was that Josh Junior, who went in as defending champion after his historic victory in 2019, finished third.

The pair have a unique relationship, working extremely closely together, and it’s clearly paying dividends. It just means the Olympic selectors now have a very difficult decision to make with only one able to compete at the Tokyo Games.

Maloney finished seven points ahead of Spain’s Joan Cardona, with Junior a further three points back in third.

“It feels awesome for the Finn Gold Cup to be staying in New Zealand after Josh won it last time,” he said. “It’s also my first Olympic class world championship, so that’s pretty special as well. And to have both Josh and I on the podium is also really cool.”