Seb Menzies / George Lee Rush

From Auckland's North Shore and a product of Murrays Bay Sailing Club, long a breeding ground for Kiwi champions, Seb Menzies first made his name by winning the 2017 Optimist National Championship. He climbed through the youth ranks, taking 29er bronze at the Youth Sailing World Championships and 49erFX gold at the 2022 Junior Worlds, before committing to the 49er with George Lee Rush.

In May 2026 the pair stunned the fleet in Quiberon, becoming the youngest 49er World Champions in the class's three-decade history at just 21, with Menzies the youngest skipper ever to lift the trophy, a year on from winning the 2025 European title in Thessaloniki.

His talent has been recognised at the very top of the sport: he was brought into the Emirates Team New Zealand America's Cup squad as a co-helm in late 2025, and he and Lee Rush are firmly in the frame for New Zealand selection for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

A fellow North Shore sailor and Murrays Bay Sailing Club team-mate of Seb Menzies, George Lee Rush came up through the same celebrated junior pathway, himself an Optimist national champion before the pair joined forces.

Together they collected 29er bronze at the Youth Worlds and 49erFX gold at the 2022 Junior Worlds, then graduated to the senior 49er fleet, winning the 2025 European Championship in Thessaloniki. As the engine in the front of the boat, Lee Rush helped drive the team to a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the final race of the 2026 World Championship in Quiberon.

At 21, that made him one half of the youngest world-champion crew the class has seen. Their sights are now set on a home-water Olympic campaign toward LA 2028.