Big entry for ILCA (Laser) Nationals at Murrays Bay
by Nick Page 12 Jan 2023 13:55 PST
Olivia Christie gybes for the leeward mark - 2016 Youth Worlds © Richard Gladwell
This years ILCA (Laser) Nationals will be sailed from Thursday 19th through Sunday 22nd January at Murrays Bay. There are currently over 120 sailors entered, including a record ILCA 6 youth and open fleet of over 60 boats.
The record ILCA 6 fleet will feature all New Zealand's top Youth and Women's ILCA sailors, and is sure to provide top quality racing, both for the experienced campaigners and the large number of first timers entered. ILCA.nz offers free entry to any sailor who has not previously competed in an ILCA nationals, and this year that has helped attract over 40 first timers.
Top NZ women's Olympic aspirants Olivia Christie and Greta Pilkington are favoured to feature at the top of the fleet, along with Fijian Olympic rep Sophia Morgan, Open sailor George Lane and our top Youth sailors including Zach Stibbe, Louis Poletti, George Pilkington and Maddie Rist. It is particularly pleasing to see a strong women entry in the ILCA 6, with almost 20 female youth and open sailors entered so far.
In the ILCA 7's we are unfortunately missing our two top world ranked sailors, Ex World and reigning National Champion Tom Saunders and last years runner up George Gautrey, who are both currently competing overseas. That will however open the door for the many other talented sailors in the fleet.
Seasoned ILCA 7 campaigners Luke Deegan, Luke Cashmore and Samoan Olympian Eroni Leilua will have stiff competition from a strong group of U21 sailors who have recently moved up from the youth ranks including Caleb Armit, Matthew Rist and Dylan Forsyth.
The ILCA 7 Masters will be competing in the same fleet as the ILCA 7 Open and U21 sailors and notable masters entries who are expected to feature include ex Laser champ and Americas Cup skipper Dean Barker, multiple World Masters champion Scott Leith and defending champion Andrew Dellabarca, all of whom are sure to be looking to keep all the younger talent honest.
The ILCA 6 Masters will have their own separate fleet and history would indicate that we can again expect a close contest with an always consistent Ed Tam, defending champion Phil Wild and Hamilton Werner Hennig likely to again feature.
Ten races are scheduled over the 4 days of the regatta, which will be preceded by a number of training camps, so Murrays Bay is going to be a busy venue for the next week.
Final entries do not close until the start of the regatta so anyone still thinking about it should take the plunge, enjoy free entry if you have not competed in an ILCA Nationals before, and come and join 120+ other ILCA sailors for what is sure to be an enjoyable and memorable regatta.