Are Irish sailors Chris Bateman and Lucy Loughton, who won the B14 World Championship in Sydney in January 2025, the last holders of that title? It looks that way for now, at least, as the class lost World Sailing status at this week's World Sailing Annual Conference in Dublin.
In a big boost for Irish skiff sailing, the Monkstown Bay Sailing Club were the first mixed crew to win the B14 Worlds and the first champions from outside Great Britain and Australia.
Racing at Woollahra Sailing Club from 6–10 January 2025, Bateman and Loughton topped an international fleet to secure Ireland’s breakthrough and much celebration at home.
11 months later, World Sailing stated at its Dun Laoghaire conference that the class “does not meet the minimum global distribution numbers.” It also noted the absence of a class international measurer and said an exemption request “was not supported.”
Events for the B14 can continue under the Racing Rules of Sailing, but they will not be World Sailing-recognised “World Championships.”
Bateman and Loughton remain the 2025 title holders under World Sailing recognition.
