Elliott off Swiftly at ILCA 7 World Championships

Luke Elliott © Jack Fletcher / Down Under Sail

Adelaide turned it on for day one of the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championships, with Australian Sailing Squad athlete Luke "Swifto" Elliott the best of the Aussies in second after posting a win and a second from today's two races.

"I managed to win the first race after a poor start, so that felt pretty nice," said Elliott after racing.

"Then I backed it up with a second just behind Wearny (Matt Wearn). We were both at the front of the fleet for both races so I'm pretty happy with the day."

The 156-strong entrants were split across three fleets, and they were treated to the kind of day sailors dream about.

"We had good, standard Adelaide conditions," continued Elliott. "Not a sea breeze but just a decent gradient of about 10-20 knots with a bit of heating in there and some nice big waves."

Elliott headlines five Australian Sailing Team (AST) and Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) athletes in the top 20, with reigning World and Olympic Champion Matt Wearn (AST) in fifth, Ethan McAullay in 11th, Finn Alexander in 14th and Zac Littlewood in 17th.

Finn Alexander - photo © Jack Fletcher / Down Under Sail

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Hermann Tomasgaard from Norway leads the regatta after posting two bullets (race wins).

Wearn had a sixth in his first race before bouncing back to win the second.

"It's a better start to the regatta than he has had at other recent major regattas, so he is right in the hunt," noted Australian Sailing Technical Director Michael Blackburn.

Blackburn also highlighted the work of young Western Australian McAullay, who showed poise under great pressure.

"In the second race Ethan had a great start, then his strategy was to tack off to the right early but he rushed the manoeuvre a bit and missed a couple of shifts," continued Blackburn. "As a result, he ended up battling in the 15-20 area which is always a bit hard.

"But the challenge of being in the jungle is being able to see the forest from the trees and then making your way out of it. He has good speed, good patience and determination. He used them to work his way through the field and finish in the top ten."

Those are traits that Blackburn noted would serve him well in the future.

"He really showed some experience and calmness under the pressures of the first day of a World Championships. Ethan does well to analyse the races afterwards and pick out the moments in the race that are key, and is a great self-learner as a result."

It looks like more of the same conditions for tomorrow's racing, with a breeze of up to 15 knots predicted for the afternoon.

With the sun out and waves up, rest and preparation for the athletes becomes crucial.

"That's the lucky thing about being in the yellow fleet, we get that extra half an hour of rest now," concluded Elliott.

"I'll jump on the physio table later and then into an ice bath. Hopefully get a good night of sleep and come back to do it all again tomorrow."

Visit the event website for more details on the event, or see full results here.

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) results after Day 1:

1st - Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) - 1, 1 (2 pts)
2nd - Luke Elliott (ASS/WA) - 1, 2 (3 pts)
3rd - Phillipp Buhl (GER) - 3, 1 (4 pts)
5th - Matt Wearn (AST/WA) - 6, 1 (7 pts)
11th - Ethan McAullay (ASS/WA) - 5, 9 (14 pts)
14th - Finn Alexander (ASS/NSW) - 9, 7 (16 pts)
17th - Zac Littlewood (ASS/WA) - 12, 5 (17 pts)
47th - Stefan Elliott-Shircore (ASF/WA) - 16, 19 (35 pts)
76th - Michael Compton (ASF/WA) - 15, 32 (47 pts)
79th - Lawson McAullay (ASF/WA) - 20, 29 (49 pts)
79th - Sam King (ASF/TAS) - 20, 29 (49 pts)
136th - Will Sargent (ASF/TAS) - 47, 43 (90 pts)