KEY POINTS:
Few New Zealanders won world titles this year more convincingly than Carl Evans and Peter Burling.
They went to the world 420 yachting champs in the Canary Islands and won a staggering seven of the 11 races, grabbed two thirds, a 17th and an 18th.
They were so far ahead of the other 45 crews - many of whom were sailors of the gnarled, hardy variety old enough to be their fathers - that they didn't need to sail the last race.
And here's the thing: they were both 15. Among those they saw off were fellow New Zealanders Simon Cooke and Scott Illingworth, who took the silver.
The 420 is a two-person racing dinghy. It's not an Olympic class event, but regarded as a precursor to the 470 discipline, which is on the programme for Beijing.
Evans and Burling went on to win the European junior title in Portugal by a whopping 37 points. They were in a 111-strong fleet from 20 countries, but it all probably seemed a breeze after the open triumph.
Aucklander Evans sails out of Kohimarama club; Burling is from Tauranga. The pair took turns at missing Friday afternoon classes so they could meet up for training this year.
Competing against adults hadn't fazed the pair.
"It's normal now," Burling said, although he admitted they had been slightly surprised by the scale of their success.
"We were going really fast against all the people we thought would be right up there."
The two were finalists in the New Zealand Sailor of the Year, and romped away with the Young Sailor award.
They get the chance to defend their title at Takapuna next month.
Evans has two ambitions - to sail around the world and contest the Olympics.
The next challenge for this gifted duo is likely to be a move into an Olympic class. And right now, it's not a question of if, but when.
