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New Starting Technology Trialed at Sailing Grand Slam

ILCA 6 Start at OCR Grand Slam Event San Pedro, LA

The Vakaros RaceSense starting system was trailed at the Sailing Grand Slam 19-24 July San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta in LA. There on the 2028 Olympic courses top ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 sailors had the opportunity to see this technology tested at scale and consider what it could mean for how ILCA racing is started in the future.

The system works by linking every part of the starting sequence together: two fixed units mark either end of the line, each boat carries its own onboard unit, and the Race Officer’s tablet ties it all together with a real-time view of where every boat sits relative to the line.

When the start signal fires and the line goes “open,” the system flags any boats that are over early — individually. Rather than calling a general recall and resetting the whole fleet, only the sailors who jumped the gun are notified. They can dip back, clear the line, and re-join the race while everyone else keeps sailing.

For ILCA, the appeal is straightforward: fewer stoppages, faster racing, and starts that reward clean execution instead of penalizing the whole fleet for a few early boats. It also gives race officials a much stronger evidentiary basis for starting decisions.

San Pedro was an important proving ground, and Vakaros RaceSense will make its debut at an ILCA World Championship at the 2026 ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, running August 23–30, followed by the 2026 ILCA 6 Women’s World Championship at the same venue from September 5–12.

See more on the experience with the system and opinion of top sailors to its use in the post on the ILCA web site Here.

ILCA Youth World Championships Aarhus Denmark 1-19 August

The 2026 ILCA 4 and ILCA 6 World Youth Championships will be taking place from 1 to 19 August from the Aarhus International Sailing Centre in Denmark. There will be 450 ILCA 4 and 430 ILCA 6 girls and boys from 56 nations competing in these events.

ILCA says “These two World Championships are one of the highlights of the sailing calendar: two weeks where the next generation of ILCA sailors race against the best of their peers from around the world, many with sights set on senior competition and the Olympic Games”

There are 19 Australian sailors competing in Aarhus and we wish them all good luck and good sailing for what will likely be the sailing experience of their young lives.

The web sites with links to race documents, media and results are ILCA 4 1-9 August  ILCA 6 11-19 August

Matt Wearn Wins Olympic Classes Regatta San Pedro LA

ILCA 7 Podium in San Pedro – Colin Grey Photo

The San Pedro OCR wound up on 24 July after a six days of tight racing with 63 of the World’s top Olympic ILCA 7 and 63 ILCA 6 sailors at what will be the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic course at San Pedro. A new Final Series format, featuring two short high-intensity races for each class, produced tightly contested battles on the waters outside the Port of Los Angeles.

Matt Wearn finished at the top of the podium in ILCA 7. Matt had a tussle with second placed Cypriot  Pavlos Kontides throughout while early leader Micky Beckett GBR who had a mid series fade and then a strong finish to lift into third. WA’s Ethan McAullay also made the cut into the top 10 shootout finishing 10th overall. Fellow WA sailor Zac Littlewood was 12th.

In ILCA 6 in the hard-fought medal race sprint, Ireland’s Eve McMahon moved from fourth to third while American Charlotte Rose also climbed a place to take silver while GBR sailor Hannah Snellgrove held onto the overall lead to take gold. There was just 4 points between the three podium placed sailors. First Australian in 20th place was up and coming young Manly YC sailor Evie Saunders.

Full results are on the San Pedro OCR web site Here.

 

 

Top World Sailors Competing at Olympic Classes Regatta Los Angeles

The San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta runs from 19-24 July at the Port of Los Angeles , the venue that will host the boat classes at the LA 2028 Olympic Games. Fourteen Australians will compete among 137 boats in the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 classes.

ILCA6 Elyse Ainsworth, Mara Stransky, Zoe Thomson, Casey Imeneo, Evie Saunders, Francess Beebe and Sylvie Stannage
ILCA7 Matt Wearn, Ethan McAullay, Zac Littlewood, Michael Compton, Lawson McAullay,
Isaac Shotte and Alexander Bijkerk

Racing will be held both inside and outside the San Pedro Break Wall, creating two distinct racecourses, each with its own challenges.

San Pedro OCR is a part of the Olympic Class Sailing Grand Slam Series, which included The Princess Sofia Trophy in Mallorca Spain; French Olympic Week in Hyeres, France; Dutch Water Week in Almere, The Netherlands; Kiel Week in Kiel, Germany; and now the Long Beach and San Pedro OCRs. The top Australian ILCA sailors have been competing in these Grand Slam events.

The event web site with links to news and results is Here

World Sailing World Youth Championships Team Announced

Australian Sailing has announced 13 sailor and 5 coach/support team members selected for the 2026 Youth Sailing World Championships, to be held in Vilamoura, Portugal, from 11 to 19 December 2026.

430 sailors from 68 countries have already been registered for the 11 events of these championships sailing in five classes ILCA 6, iQFoil, 420, 29er and Nacra 15.

Congratulation to the Australian Sailing selected ILCA sailors Catarina Myer RQYS, Queensland and Jasper Stay FSC, WA. Catarina represented Australia in the 2025 event also held in Vilamoura.

Information on selection for this event is on our web site post Here.

The full team and more information is on the Australian Sailing web site Here.

ILCA Summer of 26/27 Events

ILCA Victoria will welcome sailors from Australia and around the world for an exceptional summer of racing from Sandringham Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay.

Major Championship Events – Hosted by ILCA Victoria:

2026 Performance Sailcraft ILCA Victorian State Championships 21–22 November 2026
2027 Performance Sailcraft ILCA Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships 1–8 January 2027
2027 Performance Sailcraft ILCA Under-21 World Championships 10–17 January 2027

Local and overseas sailors can build a full Australian summer campaign by including regattas in multiple states:

2026 ILCA NSW & ACT State Championships 14-15 November 2026 – Double Bay SC
2026 Sail Melbourne – 26–29 November 2026 – Brighton, Melbourne
2026 Sail Brisbane – 15–19 December 2026 – RQYS, Brisbane

Together, these events create a structured pathway of competition from November 2026 through January 2027, allowing sailors to maximise travel value and race days.

ILCA Summer 26-27 Events Graphic_750

For further information about ILCA Victoria events please contact:
James Mitchell
Chair, ILCAVIC 26–27 Regatta Organising Committee

Australian Sailors Ranking for Under 21 Worlds

Applications open 14 July 2026 for the 2027 Performance Sailcraft ILCA Under-21 World Championships, to be held 10–17 January 2027 at Sandringham, Melbourne.

As the host nation, Australia has been allocated additional places for this championship, with the final number depending on demand from other countries.

Australian applicants will be offered places in ranking order, based on results from the 2026 Australian Championships in Hobart, as outlined in our June 2025 ILCA Australia post.

Didn’t sail in Hobart? You can still apply! Sailors who didn’t compete at the 2026 Australian Championships will be ranked after those who did, in the order applications are received.

This is a once-in-a-career opportunity to race an Under-21 World Championship on home waters. Don’t miss it!

Applications open at 00:01 US Central Time on 14 July 2026.

See ILCA Australian ranking policy here: Worlds Ranking

Regatta entries here from 14 July:  Laser World Championships – International Laser Class Association

ILCA Class Rules Change Voting

As an Olympic class ILCA is required to change its Class Rules to align with World Sailing’s Standard Class Rules (SCR) format.

The majority of changes are clerical only with a few needing to be made to address rules that were either legacy provisions carried forward without revision or rules whose interpretation was unclear. This second group has been revised to reflect the class’s considered position to maintain current practices.

In short there in no intention to change the current class rules arrangements. You can see the changes in detail Here.

There is a more detailed description Here of the motivation and mechanism of these rules changes along with a link to the proposed new Class Rules with the changes incorporated.

The rules changes need to voted as a job lot (Yes/No) by a simple majority of district members. Scan the QR code or click the link below to vote.

Voting is open here until 24th July 2026

2027 ILCA Oceania Solidarity Program Applications Open

Applications for the 2027 ILCA Oceania Solidarity Program are now open.

With support from PSA and Australian Sailing one ILCA 4 female sailor (aged between 13 & 16 years on Jan 1st, 2027) from each Australian state, plus representatives from New Zealand and Pacific Island nations will receive free entry to the 2027 Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships 1-8 January at Sandringham Yacht Club. plus, a race-ready ILCA 4, a dedicated coach, and team gear. A flyer for the program is Here.

This is the fifth running of this program which since 2023 has seen 28 girls participate, fostering growth, friendships, and success, including international competition and positive community impact.

Applications can be placed before 1st August 2026 Here.

The program web site is Here and an information brief is Here.

 

ILCA 7 2026 World Masters

The ILCA 7 World Masters has just concluded in the waters of the Saronic Gulf off Athens at The Nautical Club of Kalamaki. There were 13 Australians among the 84 sailors from 20 countries competing. With all 12 scheduled races completed all the sailors were very satisfied with the event.

Congratulations to Australian sailors Brendan Casey, Bruce Savage, Jeff Loosemore and John Roberson for their podium places. Bruce finished with a third following up on his second place in the ILCA 6 GM division the previous week. Geoff was also a double podium placer having finished with a 5th place cube in the ILCA 6 he came from behind to claim second in the ILCA 7 GGM division.

For the first time this year the Legends category was introduced for ILCA 7 Worlds. Long time World Masters competitor John Roberson was placed third in this event.

Further information, results, photos and videos are available at the links.

Videos

Results

Photos

Winners are grinners ILCA 7 Worlds in Athens – Photo by Harris Gkaniatsas – Nautical Club of Kalamaki

Michael Blackburn ILCA Debut Olympian

As part of their  30 Years of Olympic ILCA Sailing series, ILCA have been speaking with sailors who competed in the class’s Olympic debut and reflecting on what that experience means three decades on.

Their interview with Michael Blackburn is Here.

For Michael Blackburn, Atlanta 1996 was the start of an Olympic journey that would leave a lasting mark on the ILCA class.

Competing in the Laser class, Michael finished an impressive 4th at his first Olympic Games before going on to win bronze at Sydney 2000 and claim the 2006 ILCA Laser World Championship title.

His influence extended well beyond his own racing career. As a coach with the Australian Sailing Team, Michael helped guide a new generation of champions, including Olympic gold medallists Tom Slingsby (London 2012), Tom Burton (Rio 2016), and Matt Wearn (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024).

Through both his sailing and coaching achievements, Michael has played a major role in one of the most successful periods in ILCA Olympic history.

Michael’s current role is as Technical Director of Australian Sailing’s High Performance Program where he leads the national coaching group, providing strategic direction, on-water training and competition plans for the program’s elite sailors.

ILCA 6 World Masters Greece

156 Boats from 24 countries contested the ILCA 6 World Masters in Kalaamki Athens between 30 May and 7 June. There were 21 Australians among them.

You can see the prize winners in the ILCA presentation photo above.

In the 47 boat GM division Bruce Savage was second after an early lead was eroded by a BFD in Race 9. Jenny Danks was second of the GM women.

Kerry Waraker was the winner in the new Suoer Legends and Lyndall Patterson was first women in GGMs.

The ILCA 7 World Masters will be sailed at the same venue 8-16 June.

Lyndall Patterson World ILCA 6 Masters – ILCA Photo

30 Years of Olympic Sailing Celebration

This year the ILCA/Laser class will celebrate 30 years since making its Olympic debut at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, a milestone that marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the class.

As part of the celebration, ILCA is seeking contributions from the ILCA community.

If you have memories, images or stories from Olympic ILCA/Laser sailing that you would like to share, please get in touch with Agustín Argüelles the new ILCA Global Communications and Media Manager at agustin@ilcasailing.org — Please include “ILCA 30 Years” in the subject line. Selected contributions may be featured during the campaign. One such experience contributed by Ken Hurling concerning Australian Olympic sailor Andrew Landenberger Here.

You can see ILCA President Mark Lyttle’s cameo YouTube video of his Olympic experience in the first Laser Olympics in 1996 Here.

New ILCA Finance and Governance Arrangements

ILCA World Council has established a Finance and Governance Sub-committee (FGC) to provide oversight in key areas of finance, audit, governance, ethics and risk management.

The PGC will meet quarterly under ILCA President Mark Lyttle with newly appointed Treasurer Daniel Sexton. Nick Page who has done a fabulous job as ILCA Treasurer over many years will hand over this responsibility to Daniel over calendar 2026.

The working arrangements for this sub-committee and these key functions are covered in more detail in an ILCA web site post at https://ilcasailing.org/ilca-world-council-strengthens-finance-and-governance-support/

ILCA Amps Up Communications

Early this year ILCA appointed Agustín Argüelles to a new position of Global Communications Manager. Agustin’s role will  be to oversee class media, strengthen member communication, and coordinate the promotional activities of the class. This has assisted with the ILCA World Council’s increased focus on publicity and promotion.

The ILCA web site is the ILCA’s prime communication channel. It has all class information on news, rules, events entry and results. Some recent posts on major events on the site include.

The various social media and other channels featuring ILCA activities are. Check these out.