The  ILCA  Handbook is updated each year. The Handbook has all you need to know about the boat and the class with a report from the President, class rules, World Championship winners, sailing tips and more.

The 2023 version of the Handbook is now available online Here.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Colin Dods as our new Principal Race Officer.
 
Col is passionate about providing the best race and regatta experience for sailors. His philosophy is that the racing must not only be safe, fair and fun, but that it is run professionally and in friendly collaboration with athletes, association organising committees and host clubs.
 

Col’s first event as PRO will be the 2024 Australian Open & Youth Championship at Adelaide Sailing Club.
 

Col’s sailing biography is in the press release Here.

The 2024 Olympic Sailing will be held in the French port city of Marseilles between 28 July and 8 August 2024.
 

There will be 165 women and 165 men competing in the 10 events with 8 classes of equipment.
 

The numbers of competitors to be allocated at each of the qualifying events for each Olympic event is summarised below.

The full Olympic Sailing Qualifying process is outlined in the World Sailing document Here.
 

The full list of qualifying events, venues and dates is Here.
 

For ILCA the main qualifying events are the 2023 Sailing World Championships the Hague Men (16 places) & Women (16 places) 10-20 August 2023, the 2024 ILCA Women’s Worlds Mar del Plata ARG (7 places) 3-10 January and the 2024 Men ILCA Men’s Worlds Adelaide (7 places) 24-31 January 2024. The Oceania Qualifier event which will qualify two men and two women will be Sail Sydney 11-18 December 2023.
 

These and our ILCA events are tabulated on our Events page Here.

We are sad to announce the sudden and tragic death of Peter Merritt. Peter tragically passed away on the 16th May.
 

He has been a life-long supporter of the sailing fraternity. His loss will be felt by many.
 

Peter was the valued PRO of our National & Oceania events, Director of Events for ILCA Oceania, a Life Member of ILCA Victoria and founder of sailing club and events management systems company ClubOps.
 

We send our condolences to Peter’s wife Jenny, sons Simon and Tim and mother Byrl.

Australian Sailing Qualified Coach – Tasmanian, Rohan Langford has been selected to support the
Australian team at the 2023 ILCA4 Youth World Championship at Volos, Greece.
 

Pre-regatta preparation and competition dates in Volos are 19th July – 30th July 2023.
 

Rohan has been selected by the travelling team members from the AusILCA Coaching Pool.
 

The Australian ILCA 4 team is made up of three female and nine male under 18 sailors from around Australia who qualified in the 2023 AusILCA National Championship at Georges River Sailing Club in NSW.
 

Rohan is a passionate sailor who has competed at a high level within the sport in several classes and was National Laser 4.7 Australian Champion in 2008. He has enjoyed the experience and success in the coaching side of the sport over the last 10 years.
 
AusILCA is delighted to have Rohan join the Australian team and wishes him and the team all the best for the regatta.

The second of the 2023 Sailing World Cup events Semaine Olympique Française (French Olympic Week SOF) concluded in Hyères, France on 29 April.

There were 670 entries from 60 countries sailing in the 10 Olympic classes. The event web site is at https://sof.ffvoile.fr/

Casey Imeneo (McCYC & SSCBC) had a great series finishing third to Canada’s Sarah Douglas and Dane Anne Marie Rindom. Mara Stransky won the medal race and finished 5th so great results for our ILCA 6 sailors.

The ILCA 7s were dominated by GBR’s Elliott Hanson and Michael Beckett with Elliott grasping the gold with a win in the medal race. Matt Wearn was 4th behind Cypriot Pavlos Kontides.
 

The full results are Here.
 

The Sailing World Cup events are;

April 3-8 – Trofeo Princesa Sofia – Mallorca, Spain
April 24-29 – Semaine Olympique Française – Hyères, France
May 31-June 4 – Allianz Regatta – Almere, Netherlands
June 17-25 – Kieler Woche – Kiel, Germany

Finn Alexander (13th) Was On a Roll in the Early Windy Races

 
Applications are now open Here for the U21 World Championships 15-22 October at the Royal Yacht Club de Tangier Morocco.

Accommodation information is Here.

Total entry for this event is limited to 100 sailors in the Men’s fleet and 60 in the Women’s fleet.

 
For more information, see the Official Event Page.

Zoe pleased with her second place in La Palma

The Princesa Sofía Olympic classes Regatta kicked on last week after a slow start on Bay of Palma Mallorca. This is the first Sailing World Cup of 2023’s four regattas along with the Allianz Regatta (The Netherlands), the Semaine Olympique Française (Hyères, France) and Kieler Woche (Kiel, Germany).

All the top level Olympic sailors were competing with 15 months to the big event in Marseilles.

At the top of the hot ILCA 6 fleet new mum Marit Bouwmeester NED who is looking for a fourth Olympic medal after gold in Rio 2016, silver in London 2012 and bronze in Tokyo 2021 showed the way with consistent performances to win before the medal race was sailed. WA’s Zoe Thompson had a great series and a second in the medal race for second overall from the number two Netherlands sailor Maxime Jonker.

The ILCA 7s proved to be a walk in the park or a cruise on the bay for Mick Beckett GBR who won with a race to spare after a very consistent series. While daylight was second it was all very close after that with New Zealand’s George Gautrey finished next a point ahead of  Croatian Tonci Stipanovic.   Tom Saunders NZL was 5th and the best Australian Matt Wearn who finished second in the event last year was 7th.

The event web site is Here.

Australian Sailing has launched the “NEXTLEVEL” coaching program for year 2, aimed at further empowering coaches to become advanced coaches and enhance the quality of coaching in the Olympic and pathway classes.

This is a great opportunity for coaches to develop their skills further and contribute to the development of high-quality coaching.

Coaches selected for the “NEXTLEVEL” program will be required to attend a face-to-face workshop in Brisbane from May 8-10, 2023, and the Advance Workshop from May 22-24 in Adelaide. AS will arrange for travel and accommodation for the selected coaches.

If coaches are interested in being considered for the program, they should register Here by close of business April 20.

Swifto Elliott in action Princesa Sophia Regatta 2023

We have updated the list on the Events Tab of this web site to show 2023-24 international, regional, national and significant district events.

We have posted links to the definitive web site for the event so this should be your first port of call for information, entry and results.

We run some big events on our side of the equator but nothing holds a candle to Youth Worlds held in Europe. The photo above is not sardines in a tin but ILCAs in the boat park at the ILCA 4 World Youth Championships 2022 in Vilamoura, Portugal. There were 440 ILCAs and 150 coach boats – feel free to count them.

This year for the ILCA 4 Youth Worlds in Volos, Greece the entry limit is 400 (260 male and 140 female) and it is already nearing full. The entry limit for the 2023 ILCA 6 Youth Worlds in Dziwnow, Poland is 360 (260 male and 100 female) it too is nearing full.

All the information on all ILCA World Championship events is on the ILCA web site Here. We have updated the Events tab on this web site to list all the world, regional, national and major district events for 2023-24. This list has links to the definitive web site for each event so go to the lined site for up to date information.

If you want to get an idea of the trials and tribulations of being a top level sailor and a coach travelling the world circuit have a look at Australian Sailing Squad member and Youth Coach Swifto Elliot’s blog Here.

QLA have a big State Championship event coming up 29-30 April at Humpybong YC.

They are expecting a big roll-up so why not join them and enjoy some beautiful Queensland autumn weather.
 
All entries will go into the draw for a new sail.
 
Entries are on the QLA web site Here.

The first round of entry offers are out for the ILCA 4 Youth World Championships to be held at
the Nautical Club of Volos in Volos, Greece.

If you haven’t applied for entry yet and would like to compete late applications are now open at the link Here.

The Senior European Championships 10-17 March just concluded at Circolo Nautico Andora, Italy.

In the ILCA 7 there were 180 sailors competing in three fleets. In tricky and difficult conditions variable from very light to very strong Croatians Tonci Stipanovic and Filip Jurisic finished closely ahead of Matt Wearn. There was even a strike by the sailors at a point over conditions and equipment but it all ended amicably.

The full ILCA 7 results are Here.

In the 110 boat two fleet ILCA 6s Marit BOUWMEESTER Marit NED had a convincing win despite the tricky conditions. Mara Stransky was the best of the four Australians finishing 7th with consistent results until the last day.

The full ILCA 6 results are Here.

The web site with video and details of the event is Here.

Vanessa Dudley in action on Day 3 – Photo by John West

The 2023 Oceania & Australian Masters Championships 10-13 March were run from the Bay Sailing Centre Port Stephens.

There were 147 boats sailing in three fleets. There were sailors from all Australian mainland states and territories with the most travelled competitor was GGM Helio Araujo from Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club.  It was pleasing to see keen competition in the ILCA 4s. We are keen to promote this rig for Masters as well as Youth age categories going forward.

Many of the sailors backed up from the ILCA World Masters Championships in Pattaya, Thailand in February.

Weather for the event varied from character building to excellent and from NE to SW.

The first days racing was tough with ENE winds 22 gusting to 29 knots. The waves were challenging, building over the 11Km fetch from the headland of Port Stephens to Soldiers Point. There were a large number of sailors who didn’t make it around the course and even more who were glad that they didn’t try. Well done to the sailors especially in the ILCA 7s most of whom made it all look easy on the day.

Day 2 saw ideal conditions from ENE. The run out tide proved a challenge with several OCSs and Black Flags. On Day 3 the breeze went around to the SW so the waves were down and presented excellent sailing conditions especially for sailors skilled in picking the shifts which were numerous. Day 4 saw a steadier 16 knot southerly and very good sailing conditions.

The fleet winners were GM Brett Beyer Woollahra SC in the ILCA 7s,  GM  Mark Tonner-Joyce from Royal Geelong YC in the ILCA 6 Green (Masters & GMs) and GGM Michael Pitt from Royal Queensland YS in the ILCA 6 Yellow (GGM and Legends). Sandy Kiernan from Northbridge SC won the ILCA 4s. The full final results are Here.
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There are very many fabulous action shots taken by Jon West which are linked on the Photos tab on the ILCA Nationals web site. You can view the watermarked images and buy from Jon’s web site. There are photos by Rod Barnes of the presentation which are free to download Here.

Thanks to the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (NCYC) who manage the Bay Sailing Centre (BSC) for hosting this event for us. The BSC is only a small club on some of the best dinghy sailing water on the east coast so the NCYC did a great job recruiting the 30 on water volunteers needed to run this event. These folks were flat out with rescues on day one with some sailors also rescued by a few good samaritan sailors – thanks to them.

The next ILCA Australian Masters will be held 12-15 April 2024 at RQYS Brisbane.

Brett Beyer – First GM in ILCA 7s – Inaction on Day 1 – Photo by John West

The Australian ILCA Masters was run very successfully between 25-28 February at Westernport Yacht Club in Victoria. There were 106 entries with 31 ILCA 7s sailing in one fleet, 30 ILCA 6 Grand Masters in a fleet and the other ILCA 6 age divisions in a third 45 boat fleet.

The venue Balnarring on Westernport Victoria provided excellent open water and good clean winds. These combined with ocean and wind swells gave some exhilarating rides and fair racing. All ten scheduled races were completed with light breezes on day one followed by six races in 15 to 18 knots on days two and three and around 12 knots for the final two races. Tides were an issue in the second half of the series when they were pushing the fleet over the start line. On the final day the second ILCA 6 fleet managed four general recalls and three black flag starts before the final race got away minus the 25% of the fleet which were black flagged.

The Westernport Yacht Club did a fabulous job both on and off the water. Racing was run like clockwork and the logistics of launch and retrieval of the support boats from Westernport, Sommers and bay side clubs were run with military precision. Catering at the club after racing, the functions and free beer from an event sponsor Bright Brewery were all much appreciated by the sailors.

There was a two day coaching clinic lead by Brody Riley & VLA head coach Rhett Gowans  held before the series. This was fully subscribed and very successful.

The winner of the ILCA 7 fleet was Master Brett Bayer WSC/DBSC. Brett won six races edging out Apprentice Matt Blakey PMYC. Sommers YC Apprentice Sean Bly was third. In the ILCA 6 GM fleet John Jager McCrae YC won by a point from Sandringham sailor James Mitchell with David Early GRSC third.

The full results with age divisions scored separately are Here.

The age division podium places are listed below.

There are great photos by Jon West which you can view and purchase Here.