The ILCA 7 Worlds have just concluded in Vallarta, Mexico. 126 boats competed.
Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (France) by finishing 7th in the last race secured the position he held for most of the regatta to become the new ILCA 7 World Champion. This is the first time that France has won the ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship. Cypriot Pavlos Kontides took Silver and Filip Jurišic from Croatia Bronze. 2021 World Champion, New Zealander Tom Saunders finished two points off the podium in 4th place.
Matt Wearn had to withdraw at the outset of the competition and is now recovering from an illness contracted last month.
Finn Alexander was the best-placed Australian in 13th equalling his best-ever World Championship result.
Finn commented to Mysailing, “It was a good regatta but I lacked a bit of consistency throughout the week and especially in qualifying. I had lots of good races and lots of positives to take away but there were a lot of points wasted, it’s a little bit frustrating but still not a bad overall result.”
Finn has had consistent places in the circuit events so far with a 15th in Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma, Spain, 12th at the French Olympic Regatta in Hyeres, France and now 13th in the Worlds.
Other Australian team places were, 29th – Luke Elliott, 41st – Ethan McAullay, 46th – Sam King and 72nd – Zac Littlewood
Iain Brambell Australian Sailing Team’s new High Performance Director said, “The 2022 ILCA 7 World Championships was an ever-challenging test for the young Australian team’s fighting spirit. The Australian ILCA 7 squad will depart Mexico with lessons they will continue to build from in their pursuit of next year’s World Championship in The Hague and the first opportunity for 2024 Olympic Qualification.”
Most of the squad will now head home for a break, before returning for a training block on the Paris 2024 racetrack in July.
Full results of the event are Here. News from the Worlds is on the event web site Here.
The ILCA 7 World Masters is underway at the same Vallarta venue (30 May-7 June) followed by the ILCA 6 Masters (9-17 June). There are seven Australians competing in the ILCA 7 Worlds and six in the ILCA 6. The respective event web sites are ILCA7 Worlds, ILCA 6 Worlds