ILCA Australian & Oceania Championships at Adelaide Sailing Club - Qualifying Day 3
by Jack Fletcher 5 Jan 10:57 UTC
1-8 January 2024
Brooke Wilson continues to dominate at the front of the ILCA 6 class after a tricky day of sailing on the water off Adelaide Sailing Club.
Paige Caldecoat is a close second, with the two coming head to head for the first time in the regatta as gold fleet racing begins tomorrow.
In the ILCA 7 class Lorenzo Chiavarini continues to set the pace at the front of the fleet.
With a massive shift in the last race throwing a cat amongst the pigeons flipping the results on their head, the overall again got a mix up with anyone in the top 10 still well and truly in contention for the overall.
Australia's Matt Wearn holds a slender lead for the National Title from Luke Elliott after both sailors had a mixed day in tricky conditions that tested everyone's mental strength and decision making processes.
"I think probably like a lot of people we thought it was going to be a classic Adelaide Seabreeze day. Maybe not as strong as you'd maybe expect, but still around that 15 knot range. But yeah, it definitely took a long time for it to come in and yeah, sort of like you said, it was just a bit unsettled and it didn't really know what it was doing.
I think you've just got to keep everything open. You've got to be able to access both sides of the course on days like today. Be able to have clear lanes and sail fast is probably number one, especially in this fleet." said Matt Wearn, ILCA 7 Sailor and current World Champion.
The ILCA 4's were first off today and had two races in a light but stable seabreeze.
Aidan Simmons has been rock solid all week and today was no execution extending his lead Miles Greenwood and Breanne Wadley.
With a single drop kicking in, but most of the top sailors picking up big numbers in at least one of the races today, the next few days are going to define the regatta.
Thunderstorms and offshore breezes for the next two days will open up some opportunities for big gain, and big losses, risk management is going to be key.
For more information and to enter into the event, head to www.adelaidesailingclub.com.au/majorevents/ilca-2024