The Hague, Netherlands – Today was the first day of racing for the ILCA fleets at the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships, and two races were completed in each fleet in about 12 knots of breeze under cloudy, rainy skies. This world championship is the pinnacle of ILCA sailing for the year as it will not only determine the 2023 ILCA world champions, but it will also determine 2024 Olympic qualifications. The energy and excitement to race made it a day of general recalls, especially for the ILCA 6 fleets, as the sailors calibrated to the strong Scheveningen currents.
On the ILCA 7 course, the first race kicked off with two general recalls before a successful start, and Croatia’s two-time Olympic silver medalist, Tonči Stipanović, managed to open the championship with two bullets. Great Britain’s 28-year-old Michael Beckett was not far behind, after placing third in his first race and winning his second race. Beckett is coming off of a second-place finish at the Olympic Test Event in Marseille, after narrowly losing gold to Australian Matt Wearn on the final day. Another strong performance today came from Stipanović’s training partner, Cyprus’s Olympic silver medalist Pavlos Kontides. Kontides finished with a fourth and second to sit in third overall after the first day.
On the ILCA 6 course, a number of general recalls, an AP flag, and finally a black-flag start delayed the fleets by over two hours. Canadian Sarah Douglas shared, “We were all so eager for a start.” The difficult starts made for very inconsistent results on the leaderboard, and those who managed to maintain consistency today ended up on top. Hungary’s 25-year-old two-time Olympian Mária Érdi finished the first blue-fleet race in fifth and won the second race to hold six points overall. Érdi is tied with Italy’s Carolina Albano, also 25 years old, who placed fourth and second in the yellow fleet. Another member of the British Sailing Team, Daisy Collingridge, sits in third overall with 12 points. Germany’s Julia Büsselberg, behind Collingridge with 13 points, impressively port-tacked the fleet off the first yellow-fleet start to finish in second place.
Two races are scheduled for tomorrow, 14 August, with the first warning signal at 11:00 for ILCA 6 fleets and 14:00 for the ILCA 7 fleets.
- Tonči Stipanović (CRO) – 2 pts
- Michael Beckett (GBR) – 4 pts
- Pavlos Kontides (CYP) – 6 pts
- Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) – 7 pts
- Joel Rodríguez Pérez (ESP) – 11 pts
- Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) – 11 pts
- Sam Whaley (GBR) – 14 pts
- Finn Lynch (IRL) – 16 pts
- Philipp Buhl (GER) – 20 pts
- Kaarle Tapper (FIN) – 20 pts
- Mária Érdi (HUN) – 6 pts
- Carolina Albano (ITA) – 6 pts
- Daisy Collingridge (GBR) – 12 pts
- Julia Büsselberg (GER) – 13 pts
- Lucía Falasca (ARG) – 13 pts
- Charlotte Rose (USA) – 13 pts
- Josefin Olsson (SWE) – 14 pts
- Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) – 14 pts
- Maura Dewey (CAN) – 14 pts
- Emma Plasschaert (BEL) – 18 pts