ILCA NSW & ACT

NSWIODA the Optis are running an East Coast Championships over the June long weekend 6-8 June at Woollahra Sailing Club.

They are inviting all ILCA, 9′er and 420 classes to join the Optis for this event.

The Notice of Race is Here. Entries can be placed Here.

Manly Yacht Club MYC have one of the largest youth fleets in NSW and a development plan that includes helping sailors move into ILCA4s.

They have a strong vision to continue to grow their very successful youth programme over the next 3 years. As part of this plan MYC are looking for a new Juniors Head Coach.

MYC’s Youth Vision and Program are explained along with details of the new professional Head Coach position in the flyer Here.

If you are, or know someone who may be, interested in the position please contact the MYC manager by 31 May via the email listed in the flyer.

This isa great club and initiative.

Some great Autumn dinghy sailing is to be enjoyed at Week 3 of Sail Sport Stephens (SPS) 2-3 May from the Bay Sailing Centre at Soldiers Point. We know and appreciate the venue and the waters from running many of our own events there.

The Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club has run Sail Port Stephens  since 2008 with competitors growing from 25 then to over 300 across all fleets.

The Off the Beach section of the event caters for most classes including ILCAs.

Entry, Notices and other links and information is on the SPS Off the Beach web page at https://www.sailportstephens.com.au/off-the-beach/

Can’t promise as many sailors or as much wind as for our National Masters but SPS is a great event and venue

The Lake Mac Open Skiff & ILCA Champs are on 28 & 29 March at Speers Point SC Lake Macquarie.

This event is for sailors up to age 20 in ILCA 4 and ILCA 6 and Open Skiff (ex Bic) class. A good roll up of sailors is expected to enjoy the fun and racing.

Podium finishers in the ILCA will take home trophies and PSA vouchers, and there’s a great fun element alongside the racing — a couple of adventure races including the now-legendary Bridge of Doom, where ILCA sailors team up and race on Open Skiffs. Holding 45 degrees through the Bridge is harder than it sounds!

The Notice of Race is Here and you can enter the event Here.

Sylvie Stannage leads in the ILCA 6 fleet – Photo by Marg’s Yacht Photos

The Metros were run on the Sound Sydney Harbour by Manly Yacht Club over the weekend 14-15 March. There were 80 boats competing with 30 staging from Manly YC and Little Manly Beach with the majority sailing over from harbour clubs MHASC, DBSC, WSC and VYC.

Saturday saw light conditions with the ESE to E wind never above 8 knots however it was stable enough in direction to allow RO Andrew McLachlan and the Manly YC team to get the three scheduled races run albeit after a long day on the race track and in transit.  Sunday presented perfect sailing conditions with 15-18 NE breeze all day. The harbour as always was quite lumpy with a moderate swell across the heads.

The Sound is the best sailing water on Sydney Harbour with enough room for our traditional trapezoid course and (just) enough room to allow a transit gap for power boats in and out of Middle Harbour. The regular Manly Ferries were very accommodating varying their route to avoid our fleets. An outbound Manly Fast Ferry actually stopped for 3 or 4 minutes to allow our largest fleet to round a mark unimpeded on Sunday a courtesy much appreciated by the sailors. Even the giant cruise ship Carnival Splendour transited the course on Saturday without incident.

There were three fleets in the event with 40 boats in the ILCA 6, 26 ICLA 7s and 14 ILCA 4s. In the ILCA 4s Under 16 promising HHSC sailor Ethan Wilkinson dominated counting four first and a second. Ruben Steel from RPAYC was second posting a win three seconds and a third with Amelia Thorne from GSC third and first girl.

The ILCA 6s were dominated by Sylvie Stannage HHSC/WSC who won every race. Second was GM Bruce Savage MHASC and third promising Under 17 sailor Zac Howell from HHSC.

The podium places were tightly shared around the top three in the ILCA 7s but Julian Taylor was too good and after dropping a 10th in race 3 he counted four wins and a second to take top spot from Finnish sailor now sailing at WSC Fredrik Westman and Alexander Bijkerk RPAYC/DBSC.

Thanks to Manly YC and their large enthusiastic team of volunteers who worked tirelessly with our RO Andrew McLachlan to deliver a great event for us at this iconic location. Special thanks to ILCA Captain Ian Saunders for setting up the arrangements for the event.

Fleet and age category winners Here.

The full final results are Here.

The are some great photos by Marg’s Yacht Photos. Scan the QR or click the link Here to see and download these. A big t hanks to Marg Frazer Martin for the photos.

Close at the top of the ILCA 7 Fleet – Photo by Marg’s Yacht Photos

The Metros are on 14-15 March at Manly Yacht Club.

Manly YC are running this event for us on Manly Cove and the Sound so some of the best waters on Sydney Harbour.

NoR, Entry, SI, Sign On/Off  and Event Information links are listed below.

The Event Information document will be helpful for sailors planning to rig at Manly.

It will be convenient for many to stage from other clubs around the harbour so for this event if you have entered online there will be no need to register at the club – just sign on and off online each day.

The club will be providing a BBQ and drinks on the Manly Yacht Club Deck after sailing on Saturday and Sunday. This will be free for all competitors. The presentation will be held at the Manly Yacht Club as soon as possible after racing on Sunday.

Final Results

Notice of Race

Online Entry

Sailing Instructions

Event Information Document

Parking & Rigging Information

Sign On/Off

Shipping Movement Notice

Cruise ship Carnival Splendor is scheduled to depart Circular Quay OPT at 1600 on Saturday and is expected to be in the Sound at 1630. Be alert that we may need to AP racing to wait until the Cairns bound ship clears the race area.

ILCA Victoria Masters States are on the 21^st & 22^nd of February at Mordialloc Sailing Club.

Mordialloc is towards the top of Port Phillip Bay, and they expect to have typical Port Phillip sea breeze conditions with warm sunny weather.

Details available on the Mordialloc web site Here. You can enter Here.

180 sailors from all mainland states and territories and some sailors from overseas enjoyed Australian Masters Championships at the fabulous regatta venue at Soldiers Point, Port Stephens. With beautiful clear water, good breezes, a traffic-free bay and lots of user-friendly rigging areas adjacent to accommodation what was not to like about the event.

The event was run for us by Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club who manage the Bay Sailing Centre and run major sailing events on Port Stephens. NCYC did a terrific job with 20 volunteers from Newcastle and tireless Sailing Manager Jack Buchan and Australian Sailing’s RO of the year Ken Semple calling the shots. Thanks to the NCYC and Bay Sailing Centre staff and volunteers for their efforts in delivering a great event.

On Sunday night 200 sailors and supporters enjoyed the event dinner at the Soldiers Point Bowling Club across the road from the Bay Sailing Centre. There Martin White hosted an Q & A session with Brett Beyer, Rob Lowndes, Lyndall Patterson and Christine Bridge who were Australian winners of World Masters categories at the 2025 World Masters in Italy. Australia won the ILCA trophy for most successful nation at the 2025 World Masters. The trophy is now on proud display at Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club.

The racing was held with three fleets ILCA 7, ILCA 6 Masters & GM, ILCA 6 Apprentices, GGMs and Legends each around 60 boats.

The first 2 days had solid afternoon sea breezes of 15 knots plus. Day 3 was lighter and saw delays due to shifting breeze and many general recalls. On Day 4 the fleets were APed ashore and just one light wind race was completed so seven of the eight scheduled races for the series with one drop.

There were 25 ILCA cubes awarded at this event and the first three placegetters in each category are listed below.

The full results are Here.

ILCA has announced the upcoming launch of a redesigned ILCA 4 sail.

The new ILCA 4 MkII sail was developed to improve cloth supply and improve durability without changing the ILCA 4 rig or compromising the ILCA one-design principle. For many years, the ILCA 4 sail has depended on a 3.8 oz sailcloth that is no longer produced at scale. The ILCA 6 also uses the same 3.8 oz material, and so work has commenced on the development of a future ILCA 6 MkII sail as well.

The new ILCA 4 sail will be available in limited supply from April 2026 and will be class legal from August 2026 in time for our events next season. The existing ILCA 6 sail will continue to be used through to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games with the new model to be released afterwards.

There is more information in the ILCA post Here.

There are 170 entries so far for the 2026 Australian Masters Championships 6-9 February 2026 at Bay Sailing Centre Soldiers Point, Port Stephens NSW. Entries are still open Here.

This is our favourite Masters venue. It offers great open sailing conditions, easy access on and off the water and ample accommodation in the Port Stephens area.

There are three current World Masters Champions competing so expect some high level competition. The Entry List is Here.

This is the Australian ranking event for the 2026 ILCA World Masters 2-10 June Skiathos, Greece.

The Notice of Race is Here.

The Sailing Instructions are Here.

Brett Beyer and Christine Bridge Current GM Australian and World Champions

The 2026 Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships were very successfully run at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania with racing 3-8 January.

There were over 190 boats competing in the three classes with sailors from all Australian states and from 11 other countries. This was the largest ILCA/Laser Championship ever run in Tasmania and the largest Nationals of any class in Australia this season.

The ILCA 4 and ILCA 6 classes were sailed in two fleets using qualifying and finals series format. The largest class with 77 boats was the fast growing ILCA 4 which sailed on its own course area. Again this year there were more girls than boys in the ILCA 4. The two ILCA 6 and one ILCA 7 fleets sailed in the second course area.

The sailing conditions for the event varied from light and variable to moderate sea breeze with some full on breeze races thrown in for good measure. PRO Colin Dods and the two CROs managed to complete all 12 races two per day as scheduled though one day was a super long one allowed by the sunset in Hobart being at 2100. There is a perspective on the event by ILCA 6 sailors  Charlie Byford Here which details more on the variable conditions of the event.

As always the racing was close and competitive especially in the ILCA 4 class where the quality and skill exhibited by the young sailors was exceptional. In the LCA 4s Thomas Cooper WA RFBYC/FSC and Callum Simmons Vic SSCBC/IHYC went head to head. By winning the last race Thomas took first place on a countback. Thomas was also first U18. Callum was also runner up in this event in 2025 in Queensland. Third was RQYS sailor Harry “Houdini” Hogan. First female also from RQYS was Ruby Carter. First U16 was Seth Till FSC/SoPYC WA.

In the ILCA 6 the women filled nine of the top ten places with the two Olympians Emma Plasschaert from Belgium and Hungarian Maria Erdi going head to head finishing in that order. Third placed and first Australian was Paris Olympian sailor Zoe Thomson RFBYC from WA. 5th placed Jasper Stay also from RFBYC was the first male and the first U19. First U17 was Jackson Black from RQYS.

Recently returned to competitive ILCA sailing Matt Wearn RPYC showed he has lost none of his form. He was dominant in the ILCA 7s winning six races and winning without needing to sail in the final race. Fellow WA sailors Zac Littlewood RFBYC and Ethan McAullay RPYC filled the other podium places with Zac winning three races. First U19 was Australia’s World Sailing World Youth Championship sailor Healy Ryan DBSC NSW. First U21 was New Zealander Zach Stibbe OYC.

The full results for the event are Here.

It must be something in the water in WA as five of the top ten ILCA 7 places were filled by WA sailors and they comfortably won the Battens Trophy for the best performing state over all classes at the Nationals.

A very large team of volunteers worked under the able direction of ILCA Tasmania President Ed Fader to make this event run smoothly. Congratulations to ILCA Tasmania and RYCT for running this event for us and thanks to or sponsors for making it all possible.

The 2027 event will be held at Sandringham YC Vic 1-8 January 2027 which will be followed at the same club by the ILCA U21 World Championship 10-17 January.

ILCA has announced that 2026 ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 World Masters will not be held in Skiathos, Greece due to the termination of the contract by the Club.

These evens will proceed three days earlier than originally scheduled at a new venue Nautical Club of Kalamaki, Athens, Greece.

Entries remain open for ILCA 6 until 2 February Here and ILCA 7 until 11 February Here. New ILCA 6 NoR is Here and ILCA 7 Here.

The ranking event for these World Masters Championships is the 2026 Australia Masters at Port Stephens 6-9 February. NoR for this event is Here and entries can be placed Here.

Newly elected ILCA President Mark Lyttle has posted a message outlining the state of the ILCA nation which you can see Here.

Mark has covered the substantial issues and upcoming changes for the class including.

• Off the shelf equal performance boats and equipment from now 10 world builders
• New focus and resource for class promotion and communications
• Steady 13,000 ILCA membership with Youth & Masters World Championships having over 400 sailors
• New ILCA4 and post LA Olympics ILCA6 sail for improved longevity
• Possible adoption of new World Sailing event format and OCS technology for Senior ILCA World Championships
• Creation of an World Council advisory athlete panel for input of elite sailor views to decision makers
• President vice President and some region World Council representatives have changed
• ILCA are seeking a volunteer treasurer to replace greatly successful and now retiring New Zealander Nick Page

The governing body ILCA World Council WC comprises 9 voting and 4 non voting members. The current WC members are listed Here.

Congratulations to Healy Ryan DBSC and Caterina Meyer RQYS who represented Australian in the 2025 World Sailing World Youth Championships at Vilamoura, Portugal from 12-20 December.

Conditions were fruity at times as the Reels Video Here shows.

In the hot fleets comprising the best Under 18 ILCA sailors in the world Healy finished 7th in the 57 ILCA6 boys fleet and Caterina 20th in the ILCA6 girls. Full results are Here.

Some tough conditions in Vilamoura WS Youth Worlds – No Australians are featured in this WS photo

Fredrik Westman and Rod Barnes ILCA7 Close Racing

The 2025 ILCA NSW & ACT State Championships at Wangi Amateur Sailing Club attracted 124 entries from 27 clubs from 5 states and 3 international sailors. Wangi is a terrific club with lots of rigging area and open lake sailing water. Some 20 volunteers were involved in running the event with Wangi ASC doing a great job on the water and off.

The event was sailed in three fleets with the ILCA6 being the largest with 57 boats. The event had cube awards for all Youth and Masters age categories and overall fleet performance. A total of 28 cubes were awarded across all fleets and age divisions.

Saturday provided great sailing conditions in the open water on Lake Macquarie with a NE breeze mostly 15-18 knots. Sunday was a vastly different story. Basically every where along the coast there was virtually no breeze and what little there was continually boxed the compass. Three hours after start time AP over H was raised. As happens not 20 minutes later a useful sailing breeze arrived however it was judged impractical to relaunch all fleets and race official boats to perhaps run a race at this stage.

Some terrific close racing was enjoyed on Saturday in all fleets. In the 20 boat ILCA4 fleet Zac Howell HHSC posted 2,1,1 for a clear win from Seb Behrens from RQYS and Harper Spacey DBSC who finished level on points but in that order. Zac was first U16.

Sylvie Stannage HHSC/DBSC/WSC was most consistent in the ILCA6 winning with 2,1,2 places. GM Owen McMahon from Royal Brighton YC and Charles Byford DBSC/RPAYC were even on points with Owen taking second on a countback. Charles was first U19 and 4th placed Wilbur Bright RQYS was first U17. 5th place was the Shark Jeff Loosemore MHASC. Jeff was also first GGM. First Legend was Tim Alexander NSC.

In the 45 boat ILCA7 fleet current State Champion Campbell Patton Royal Bermuda YC/DBSC/RSYS was far too consistent posting 2,1,1 to win from current World GM Champion Brett Beyer WSC with 3,3,4. Third was Fredrik Westman whose home club is Hangö Segelförening in Finnland. Fredrik was also 1st Master. First GGM was Victorian and a great supporter of our events Steve Gunther from Royal Brighton YC.

The full results of the event are here.

There are lots of photos of Saturday’s races courtesy of Craig Ryan Here. Just click the thumbnail to see and download the full sized image.

ILCA4 Winner Zac Howell HHSC