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2025 ILCA Oceania Solidarity Program Representatives Announced

ILCA Oceania is delighted to announce the following sailors have been selected by their district as the Solidarity representative for 2025 program run during the 2025 Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships at RQYS 1-8 January.

ILCA District Name Club Sailing History
QLD Evie McGuire Southport YC Optimists
NSW/ACT Amelia (Millie) Thorne Hunters Hill SC Optimist, Flying 11
VIC Alexandria Ewart Davies Bay YC Pacer
TAS Genevieve Strutton Royal YC of Tasmania Optimist, Int Cadet
SA Sophia Homes Brighton & Seacliff YC Optimists
WA Robyn Mary Tutty Hillary YC Minnows
NZ Lucy Luxford Charteris Bay YC Optimist, P class
Solomon Is Renee Baragamu Solomon Is Sailing Ass Optimists

This program encourages young female sailors (ages 13-16) to participate in a world-class sailing championship and aims to foster a lasting love for sailing among young girls and support their development within the sport.

This is the third year of the program and already some participants have transitioned to the ILCA 6 and participated in subsequent State & National events.

This year local builder PSA have come on board and very generously will provide charter boats and merchandise for all the sailors. Australian Sailing are also providing much appreciated support for the program.

Thanks to the ILCA districts for their support, and for managing the selection process.

The full ILCA Oceania Press Release is Here.

2025 ILCA Open & Youth Championships 1-8 January RQYS

The 2025 Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships will be held at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Manly Queensland  between 1-8 January 2025.

The Notice of Race for this event is Here.

Entries prior to 30 November $450 can be placed Here.

The Regatta Competitor Page with links to race documents, entry, venue information and WhatsApp Chat Group for notifications of new information is Here.

Charters are available from NB Sailsports Performance Sailcraft Australia and Devoti Sailing.

This event is the qualifying event for Australian sailors applying for entry to any 2025 ILCA World Open and Youth Championships.

New Owner and Arrangements for Australia ILCA Builder PSA

Australian ILCA builder Performance Sailcraft Australia PSA has been purchased from long term owner the Spencer family of New Zealand.

The new owner is Jersey domiciled fintech entrepreneur Nick Ogden. Nick has a team busy re-establishing production and distribution having been approved by ILCA International as an ILCA builder. One of now nine worldwide.

We understand that under new owner PSA is in the process of;

  • Setting up a new factory on the Central Coast of NSW
  • Obtaining new ILCA standard molds and joining jig so all world builders will have molds from the same master
  • Retaining experienced PSA ILCA building skilled staff
  • Establishing a state based dealer network to support sales and the class

It will take time for fabrication, stocking and normal service to be establish following the sale of stock and closure of the old factory at Fountaindale.

Tips on Improving ILCA Sailing Fitness

International Sailing Academy (ISA) operates specialist ILCA coaching from west coast Mexico and have some great online resources covering all aspects of ILCA sailing tuning, tactics, techniques and fitness. You can check their web site Here.

ISA’s Operations Manager & ILCA Coach Colin Gowland has provided tips on improving your fitness for ILCA sailing for really keen sailors which you can see Here.

This is typical of the online material which ISA offers along with their on site coaching in Mexico will be a stretch for most of our sailors.

Racing Rules of Sailing Chat GPT

The RRS are very comprehensive and can be difficult to navigate let alone memorise.

Stuart Holdsworth has created a Chat GPT to help out sailors, race committees and protest committees. In this fee AI driven rules sailing assistant you just ask it questions and give it scenarios and it gives an analysis of the relevant rules.

Its purpose is to educate sailors and help avoid unnecessary protests or disputes.

Many, even expert sailors have been blown away by it and it is now the first point of reference for many when facing rules based incidents.

The link to the Chat GPT is

https://chatgpt.com/g/g-7FhRw3LWg-racing-rules-of-sailing-assistant

You need to sign into Chat GPT with Google, Apple or Microsoft IDs or create a GPT account. This is free to use.

2025 Youth Solidarity Program Applications Close 1 October

The 2025 ILCA Oceania Youth Solidarity Program applications will close on 1 October 2024.

John d’Helin the Program Director promises the program will be better than ever with support now added from Australian Sailing for the coach and coach boat.

The program objective is to actively promote the ILCA 4 class to clubs as the logical transition class for junior and youth sailors. ILCA Oceania aims to grow participation in the ILCA 4 class at the Oceania & Australian Open and Youth ILCA Championships and in ILCA sponsored youth regattas.

Each ILCA Oceania and Australian District will select one youth female sailor, who will receive the benefit of the following support at the 2025 Oceania & Australian Open and Youth ILCA Championships to be held from 1-8 January 2024 at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Brisbane, Queensland.

• Free event and functions entry.
• An ILCA 4 charter boat in race condition.
• Squad coaching during the regatta.
• Youth Solidarity program merchandise.

Applicants must be;
• A citizen of an Oceania country.
• A member of an ILCA District.
• A ILCA 4 female sailor aged 13-16 years as at 1 January 2025 with a minimum body weight of 50kg.

Applications are open here These must be completed on or before 1 October 2024. The selected applicants (one per district) will be chosen by their ILCA district. Selections will be announced in mid October .

More information including the selection criteria is here.

See YouTube videos from 2023 Solidarity participant Maddy English and Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron sailor Abby Young who participated in 2024 in South Australia.

2024 ILCA 6 Youth European Championships – Bangor

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ILCA 6 European Youth U17 Podium – Winner Healy Ryan

The 2024 ILCA 6 Youth European Championships & Open European Trophy have concluded in the waters off Bangor, Northern Ireland. The event ran from 27 July – 3 August 2024 in some excellent Irish summer weather, with sunlight from 4:30am to 10:30pm and maximum temperatures around 15-18 each day there was nothing missing,  every season made an appearance every day!

12 races were scheduled but 10 or 11 were held depending on the final fleet.

There were 7 Sailors representing from across the country: Ellen SAMPSON (SA), Edward ALEXANDER (ACT), Xavier BATES (WA), Riley CANTWELL (VIC), Luke CARRICK (WA), Hugo RALPH (QLD), Healy RYAN (NSW).

With the ILCA 6 worlds for female and male having been held in January (Argentina) the European championships was expected to be the youth event of the European summer and it delivered. The current ISAF Youth Worlds Champions (male and female), crowned just weeks earlier (Australia does not attend) and January’s ILCA 6 world champion Antonio Pascali was in attendance as was ILCA 4 world championship Carlos Charbati.

With 247 male sailors and 112 females from 28 countries it was a great competition to see how our sailors would fair alongside a world class fleet.

The Australian sailors all put in strong performances with moments of class along with some heartache through which they learned and grew as sailors. The wide variety of pressure and direction created some tricky conditions and all had moments when they picked great options and nailed a leg.

In the Male category Jacek Kalinowski from Poland had a fabulous last day for a come from behind overall victory while 15 year old Australian Healy Ryan won the U17 for the European Trophy and finished 2nd overall.

Australian results summary:
Ellen Sampson – 13th in Silver
Healy Ryan – 2nd (1st U17) in Gold
Riley Cantwell 53rd (17th U17) in Gold
Edward Alexander – 50th in Silver
Xavier Bates, 8th in Bronze
Hugo Ralph – 26th in Bronze
Luke Carrick – 55th in Bronze

Thanks to all the parents for getting the team to the event and working together to keep the sailors smiling and, for the most part, organised. Also a big thank you to the Ballyholme Yacht Club for putting on a fantastic regatta and the super friendly volunteers who were always up for a chat and met you with a smile.

Final results and links to news and photos can be found here.

Australian Team ILCA 6 Youth Europeans – Bangor Northern Ireland

Matt Wearn & Marit Bouwmeester Take ILCA Gold in Marseille

After a frustrating few days of light winds in Marseille in the Men’s Dinghy Matt Wearn went into the delayed medal race carrying a 14-point advantage over Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides. Pavlos was the only sailor who could overtake him for gold.

At first, Matt attempted to match race the Pavlos until the opening attempt at the Medal Race was abandoned. In the second instalment, Matt decided to go all out and stormed to victory with Pavlos second. Peruvian Stefano Peschiera who gained his starting place through World Sailing’s Emerging Nations Program had a great regatta winning bronze after some hard fought medal race duelling with GBR’s Michael Beckett. Stefano’s medal was Peru’s first Olympic medal in 32 years.

Matt’s result means Australia has now won the last four Men’s Dinghy Olympic gold medals, beginning with Tom Slingsby in London and continuing with Tom Burton in Rio and Matt in Tokyo and Paris. Pavlos Kontides, was in his fifth Olympic Games, and this was his second silver medal. He was runner up to Tom Slingsby in London 2012.

Straight after the event Matt said: “It’s been quite hard to deal with the waiting at times, luckily we didn’t have to wait for another day and now we can celebrate and have some fun. My parents have helped me all the way. There have been times when I haven’t enjoyed the sport as much, but they’ve really helped, they’re incredible parents.

“The expectation has been tougher this time, being the reigning champion and winning the last two World Championships. I had that target on my back and that was new and different.”

Netherland’s Marit Bouwmeester had already wrapped up the Women’s Dinghy gold medal before the medal race. She finished in the top five on seven occasions during the Opening Series, but persistent light wind meant she had to wait an extra day before getting her long-awaited prize.

By winning gold, Bouwmeester became the most successful female Olympic sailor ever, overtaking Great Britain’s two-time Olympic champion Hannah Mills in the process. She has now won two golds in Paris and Rio, a silver in London and a bronze in Tokyo.

Anne-Marie Rindom was unable to defend her Olympic title from Tokyo but settled for a super silver, which she also had wrapped up prior to the Medal Race, in which she finished fifth.

The only medal up for grabs heading into the Medal Race was the bronze and it was Line Flem Hoest’s to lose. The Norwegian went into the finale sitting in third and held on to that spot, crossing the finish line in second behind Italy’s Chiara Benini Floriani to take home a bronze medal.

Marit Bouwmeester said: “In the build-up to the Medal Race I tried to stay focused, but I’m also a mum as well so I had to be there for Jessie Mae. I’ve been with her a lot, putting her to bed and being there when she wakes up. It’s nice to finally finish it off, it hasn’t sunk in yet.

“I think sometimes at the Olympics you can get too serious too quickly, so it’s nice to have a distraction with Jessie Mae. Then you also have the lack of sleep and the loss of energy, but I’m grateful to be a mum and an athlete.”

Final Results

Event Website

 

 

Follow 2024 Olympics


Olympic Sailing schedule is detailed by Sailor Girl Nic Douglass on her web site Here.

Three ways to follow the Paris Olympics action.

9HD or 9GemHD TV channels. Free to Air (advertising supported). Selected and highlight sports 24 hours a day.

9Now App TV, streaming devices, PC via browser, Android or Apple mobile or tablet. See here. Over 40 channels plus replays, highlights “minis” and event guides live and free (advertising supported).

Stan Sport App, TV, streaming devices, PCs, Android and Apple mobile or tablet. See here. 8 individual sport channels advertising free live and on demand. See here. Stan subscription is $16 per month plus $15 for sport.

The Australian Sailing Team social media accounts will be the place to go to follow everything happening with the Aussie sailors in Marseilles.

  • X @AusSailingTeam
  • Facebook @Australian Sailing Team
  • Instagram @AusSailingTeam

2024 ILCA Under 21 Worlds – Viana do Castelo, Portugal

The 2024 ILCA Under 21 World Championships have concluded  in the Atlantic Ocean waters off the historic city of  Viana do Castelo, Portugal which traces its history back to 1258.. The event ran from July 1st to 8th and was blessed with great sailing conditions. All 12 races were held as scheduled.

There were 13 Australian sailors Frances Beebe. Lili Mcaullay, Ellen Sampson, Evie Saunders, Jack Eickmeyer, Tom Holmes, Lawson Mcaullay, Edward Reid, Isaac Schotte, Max Sturman, Julian Taylor, Lachie Weber and Myles Wilson competing alongside 235 sailors (80 women and 155 men) from 41 countries.

The Australian sailors all put in strong performances with Evie Saunders leading the charge finishing second in the ILCA 6 to Ireland’s Eve McMahon who was dominant posting four wins for a 30 point winning margin.

In the ILCA 7s Theodor Middelthon from Norway had a comfortable win. Isaac Schotte was running 4th mid series but faded in the last days to finish 10th with Edward  Reid 12th and Jack Eickmeyer 13th. Well done all in a hot fleet.

Event links are.

Results
Event Photos
Event Videos 
Event Website
ILCA Facebook

Last Warmup Before Olympics Concludes in Kiel

Olympics sailing will run from July 28th to August 8th in Marseilles.

One of the last warmup regattas prior to the Olympics was Kiel Week 2024 which finished on June 30th. The conditions there were highly varied ranging from light winds to stormy gusts.

Top Australian results were Mara Stransky with a 2nd in the ILCA 6 which saw four Australians finish in the top ten. Zac Littlewood was 4th in the ILCA 7 and Caterina Meyer 14th out of 150 girls in the ILCA 4 fleet.

Detail results are here.

Queensland Winter ILCA Regatta 13-14 July

In place of the South Pacific Masters this year ILCA Queensland & RQYS are running an open event the Queensland Winter ILCA Regatta 13-14 July.

Local and pretty good Masters sailor Andrew Stransky has written the invitation below to all ILCA sailors and wannabees to come and enjoy the relatively mild Queensland winter.

Blow away those winter chills, dust off your trusty ILCA dinghy and set your sights on the Queensland Winter ILCA Regatta! Muster your energy and join the age old tradition of competing in the world’s most popular dinghy class.

Racing among friends, the thrilling competition is always tight, regardless of where you are in the flight. Tone up those begging muscles in this 2 day, 5 race series, all for a paltry $50 entry fee, a bargain for the taking.

NOR, information and Entry are at https://www.rqys.com.au/qwir/

This is you chance to avoid the frigid south for at least one weekend.

ILCA 4 Youth Worlds Viana do Castelo in Portugal

Australian Team at the Opening Ceremony at ILCA 4 Worlds Portugal

The ILCA 4 World Championship 2024, the largest junior sailing event in the world, is being held in Viana do Castelo, Portugal from 23rd to 30th June 2024. There are 51 countries being represented by 427 sailors, 108 coaches, and over 900 supporters.

Viana do Castelo provided some really great sailing conditions after a fog bound start on day 1.

There were six Australian sailors competing Olivia Aitken, Addison Heatley, Caterina Meyer, Molly Schotte, Henry Piggott and Jasper Stay.

The girls event came down to the wire with the two top Netherlands sailors Hieke Schraffordt and Feline Van Ede finishing only two points apart. First Australian Caterina Meyer had a win in the gold fleet in the finals series and showed great promise. U16 RQYS sailor Henry Piggott was 53 in the boys gold fleet which was won in a close contest by Canadian Carlos Charabati. The full series results are Here.

The Event Website with links to media is Here.

Olympic Sailing Qualification

Qualification for 2024 Olympics Sailing is now finalised with 330 sailors from 66 Olympic nations set to compete in 252 boats spread across the 10 Olympic sailing events in Marseilles starting on 26th July. The nations set to compete and how they qualified are tabulated in a detailed Wiki here. There is a post on the ILCA web site on ILCAs in the Olympics which describes the qualification process and some of the history.

Australia will compete in 9 of the 10 events (missing out in the Men’s Kites). In the ILCAs Zoe Thomson and Matt Wearn have been selected as reported Here.  In the ILCAs from our Oceania Region four nations Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa each have qualified and will send sailors in both ILCA 6 and 7.

It is a great honour to be chosen to represent your country in an Olympics and we wish the sailors and their support teams all the best for their events. Behind their success all these sailors have coach and sport professionals and especially supportive families to sustain, motivate and improve them. We thank them one and all.

One special Oceania qualification we would like to highlight is that of Samoa in the ILCA 6. There Vaimo’oi’a (Vai) Ripley achieved her lifelong ambition of competing in the Olympics. Via won one of two of the IOC’s Universality Places which are a lifeline to athletes from underrepresented Olympics nations.

Vai has been sailing and training at Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club in Sydney while competing in all the ILCA local and many international events and fully deserves her coveted place. There is a great post on MHASC web site Here on Vai’s quest.

ILCA Move to Secure Class Future

ILCA have announced that they have acquired royalty and legacy builder rights owned by Spencer family companies Global Sailing (GS) and class builder Performance Sailcraft Australia (PSA). This will give the class greater ownership and control over the design rights and building specifications of ILCAs as well as a greater share of the income from hull & equipment manufacture.

The two acquisitions from the Spencers are the design rights for the class which GS purchased from Bruce Kirby in the early 2000s and the royalty payment rights issued to PSA in 2019 to compensate them as one of the then two legacy builders for the agreement to, and effect of, the introduction of multiple new class builders. See Here for details of these royalty payments.

The ILCA web site post Here has more on this positive move by the class to secure its future.