The breeze is up, and so is the competition, in this Olympic year.
The ILCA 7 World Championship at Adelaide Sailing Club in Australia has gathered the world’s best men’s singlehanded sailors, in his major test ahead of the Paris 2024 Games.
Australia and Great Britain have had a long rivalry in the Laser / ILCA 7 class, with Ben Ainslie’s win at Sydney 2000 and Paul Goodison’s gold in Beijing 2008, then three in a row by Australia: Tom Slingsby’s gold at London 2012, Tom Burton’s win at Rio 2016 and Matt Wearn being the reigning Olympic champion after winning at Tokyo 2020.
Great Britain haven’t medalled since 2008, but the new sailing superstar Micky Beckett is hoping to change all that.
After day 4 of the World Championship, Matt Wearn is leading on 16 points with Micky Beckett just a point behind. Neither though can discount Norway’s Hermann Tomasgaard, who is a further 3 points back.
The forecast for the final two days is for more wind, so all is set for a battle-royale in the final two gold fleet races, and then the top ten medal race.
For more information head to ilca2024adelaide.ilca-worlds.org
Mark has been managing sailing websites since 1996, always being at the forefront of technology, and now manages the combined Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com network. He has covered events such as the International Moth World Championship and Cowes Week, focusing on the sailors' thoughts and words. Mark has been European Champion in the Farr 30 & J/24 class and has won numerous UK titles, and competes regularly in local and national events in dinghies and sportsboats.