Grae Morris returns to competition this week in Portimão, Portugal, for the iQFOiL Under 23 World Championships. The regatta runs from 8–13 September and is set to feature a mammoth 20 races over six days on the Atlantic Ocean.

The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder has been back in training since the open World Championships in July and is treating this event as an important stepping stone toward the Australian summer training and the 2026 season.

“It’s been a while since Worlds in Aarhus,” said the 21-year-old, who narrowly missed the medal rounds there. “I’m pretty excited to just to get back on the start line and try out a few different things, see where I’ve gotten since then and see what I need to work on for the next couple months lead up to Palma 2026.”

After a recent training camp in Townsville, Queensland, a potential venue for Brisbane 2032, Grae arrives in Portimão with clear objectives.

“I’m trying to be more accurate and work on managing pressure at different times of an event and just manage the regatta better than I did in Aarhus,” he explained. “It’s everything I know, and I’ve done before but just obviously needs a lot of work and repetition.”

As for conditions for the week, Morris is keeping an open mind. “Honesty, I haven’t checked the forecast – I don’t like false hope,” he laughed. “I just kind of go with what we see on the day and what the race committee tells us.”

“What I do hope is that there’s going to be plenty of wind and plenty of racing for such a nice place like Portimão.”

The U23 World Championships will bring together 143 athletes from 30 nations, with men’s and women’s fleets set to battle it out in the rolling swells and tactical breezes of southern Europe.

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