British Sailing Team back to Oman for the ILCA 6 Worlds

British Sailing Team members (l-r) Matilda Nicholls, Hannah Snellgrove, Daisy Collingridge (pictured with coach James Gray) are set for the ILCA 6 Worlds in Oman © Sander van der Borch / Lloyd Images / Oman Sail

The 2021 ILCA 6 World Championship will take place from November 29 to December 6, with racing starting on December 1. Fresh from hosting the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championship, Al Mussanah in Oman is the location for this year's regatta. It can be a tricky venue, characterised by light, offshore winds as well as high temperatures.

The British Sailing Team is fielding three entries - Hannah Snellgrove, Daisy Collingridge and Matilda Nicholls - supported by British Sailing Team lead pathway coach James Gray. The trio will be joined by young Brits Molly Sacker and Anya Haji-Michael. Notably absent from the line-up is three-time Olympian Ali Young, who has decided to retire from Olympic campaigning.

It's been almost two years since the last ILCA 6 World Championship was held in Melbourne, Australia. Ok, there's been the small matter of the Olympics, but for the majority of ILCA 6 athletes this will be the first global event for a while. In fact, Young was the only Brit in the field at the 2020 event. In 2019 Snellgrove placed seventh, and you've got to go back to 2018 to find Collingridge's last world championship result, an 83rd at the Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. That was a long time ago, and all three Brits have proven themselves forces to be reckoned with since then. Collingridge, in particular, posted a seventh at the 2021 ILCA 6 European Championship with Snellgrove and Nicholls not far behind in 17th and 20th respectively.

What they say:

Daisy Collingridge, 22, Waldringfield, Suffolk:
"We've done a good training block the last two months leading up to this event, really focusing on the main progress points which came out of Europeans. It's definitely a lot warmer out here than Weymouth (thankfully!) but I feel super prepared for racing next week. Again it's another great opportunity to line up against the best in the world and I can't wait to get onto the start line."

Hannah Snellgrove, 31, Lymington, Hants:
"2021 has been a long season for us and I'm looking forward to rounding it out with my first World Championships since 2019. There's something quite special about sailing up to the start line of the Worlds and I'm looking forward to trying to capitalise on some of my good performances this year and also progress some areas of my racing that need improvements. Oman seems like a really interesting venue with quite light and patchy winds so I'm sure there will be lots of learning!"

The official website featuring results and the full entry list is here, but if you want to track the progress of the Brits the best place to do so is the British Sailing Team social media channels. Each day we will keep you posted on results, and feature the best photos.