Grae Morris Crowned U23 iQFOiL World Champion
by Lisa Darmanin / Australian Sailing Team 14 Sep 2025 06:43 BST
6-13 September 2025
Grae Morris (AUS) wins the 2025 iQFOiL U23 World Championships © Sailing Energy / iQFOiL International Class
Grae Morris has been crowned iQFOiL Under 23 World Champion in Portimão, Portugal, after an incredible week of racing. Morris dominated the fleet, winning 14 of the 19 qualifying races to secure his place directly in the Grand Final. In the race-to-two-wins format, he was granted one win as series leader, fell short in the opening race, but came back firing in the second race to seal victory and the championship.
"I am super happy to take away the title since it's my last year of under 23," shared Grae. "It's a super awesome way to finish the international season, finishing on a high, and I've learnt a lot to bring back home and to work out before my next regatta."
Over six days of competition, athletes faced a full gamut of conditions, from strong winds to lighter, shifty breezes across three formats: Course Racing, Sprint Slalom, and Upwind Sprint.
"We got lots of racing done in a short amount of time, so it was super efficient," explained Grae. "I just managed to keep on my toes for all of it and have a pretty good scorecard leading up to the medal race, where I had a tough first race trying to figure out what the course was like and made a few mistakes. But instantly as I finished that race, I knew what I needed to do in my second attempt to pull it off, and I executed that to the best of my abilities, which gave me the win."
It's been a standout 2025 international season for Grae, who now returns to Australia more determined than ever. "I'd say it's been a pretty good year, a long year of lots of learnings and very happy to finish the season with a win and looking forward to next year to see where I can bring this into hopefully many more wins on the international fleet."
Coach Arthur Brett praised Morris' achievements, noting both his results and his youth. "Grae has had a big year with wins in Cadiz, Palma and a second in Hyeres. It is easy to forget that he is still only 21."
He also underlined the importance of racing opportunities like this one. "Living and training in Australia is awesome but we are starved of large regattas to build his race craft. We are determined to expose ourselves to the range of pressures associated with the travel and high-level competitions to ensure there is genuine race hardness."
Arthur continued, "The Under 23 World Championship has been another blue-ribbon opportunity to deal with this. Grae continues to build his experience and sharpen his tactical nous in the intense and unforgiving medal race format. His composure in the final medal race was a pleasure to witness."
Heading back in Australia, where spring marks the start of the traditional sailing season, the Australian Sailing Team is preparing to make the most of prime training conditions, testing themselves at domestic regattas, and building momentum toward the 2026 international season, all with an eye on LA 2028.
Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) and other Australian (AUS) results at the U23 iQFOiL World Championship:
iQFOiL Men - 95 Entries
1st - Grae Morris (AST)
26th - Joseph Folley (ASF)
57th - Benjamin Robinson (AUS)
Results can be found here.