2024 ILCA Australian Open + Youth National Championships

26 Double Bay Sailing Club members recently competed at the Nationals, held at Adelaide Sailing Club on January 2 - 8. We had the strongest representation of any club in the country and our on-water success across all three rig sizes is incredibly exciting.  It is also testament to the depth and quality of Laser sailing at our club.

The majority of our sailors who travelled down to the regatta were our youth members, led by our Reach Youth coaches Josh Becker and Daniel Costandi.  Josh and Dan did a superb job preparing our sailors in the lead up, and then assisting with the logistics and on-water coaching throughout the regatta.  A big thanks to Josh and Dan for their expertise and efforts.

With any regatta, the goal is to have successful and enjoyable experiences both on and off the water.  From all reports this was certainly achieved, so congratulations to all sailors (and parents and coaches) for their hard work and commitment.

A special mention to DBSC member Brooke Wilson, who won the ILCA 6 Nationals.  The ILCA 6 fleet had incredibly close racing, and Brooke needed to win the last race to take out the regatta... which she did.  Talk about nerves of steel.  Congratulations, Brooke.

Matt Wearn (WA) continued his dominance to win the ILCA 7s.  The 7s included a large contingent of top Olympic contenders as they prep for the worlds in Adelaide later this month.  Aidan Simmons (VIC) won the ILCA 4s with some consistent and top-quality sailing.

Photos captured by Jack Fletcher from Down Under Sail

DBSC member results are as follows:

ILCA4 Gold Fleet
Miles Greenwood 9th
Ben Costandi 16th
Harriet McLachlan 32nd

ILCA4 Silver Fleet
Olivia Aitken 6th
Elouise Morgan 16th
Zoe Allen 19th
Charlotte Jenkins 25th

ILCA6 Gold Fleet
Brooke Wilson 1st
Healy Ryan 4th
Paige Caldecoat 6th
Connor Kellett 10th
Sara Bruce 12th
Edward Alexander 18th
Charlie Byford 23rd
Ali Braden 31st
Cormac Johnson 34th
Jack Restuccia 45th

ILCA6 Silver Fleet
Roberto Blum 22nd
Peter Heywood 23rd
Isobel Payne 30th

ILCA7 Gold Fleet
Finn Alexander 17th

ILCA7 Silver Fleet
Campbell Patton 8th
Julian Taylor 17th
Alexander Bijkerk 27th
Hamish Crabb 30th
Quentin Burns 35th

For full results CLICK HERE

Photos by Marion Traynor