2026 ILCA Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championship in Hobart - Day 3
by Jane Austin / RYCT Media 5 Jan 16:21 PST
3-8 January 2026
GBR's Matilda Nicholls will be fighting for a podium place in the ILCA 6s finals - 2026 ILCA Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championship © Jane Austin
Three days of qualifying races are over for the ILCA 4 and ILCA 6 fleets with the sailors now assigned to either the Gold or Silver Fleets in the 2026 ILCA Oceania and Australian Open and Youth Championships under way in Hobart.
Belgium's Emma Plasschaert finished on top in the ILCA 6 qualifying series with a score of seven points after one discard, with Hungary's Mari Erdi in second place, also on seven points.
Australia's leading sailor in the ILCA 6 fleet was Sylvie Stannage with her consistency and determination paying off, while Jasper Stay, who has just joined the Western Australia Institute of Sport in Perth, was the leading male sailor in the ILCA 6s after the six-race qualifying series.
There was not much separating the Australian Sailing athletes Zoe Thomson, Evie Saunders and Mara Stransky with all qualifying for the Gold Fleet.
Tom Fader and Harry Pilkington, both from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania (RYCT), have made the cut for the Gold Fleet finishing in 22nd and 24th place respectively in the qualifying series.
Unlike the larger ILCA 4 and ILCA 6 fleets, the ILCA 7 fleet does not have a qualifying series and continues to build upon a sailor's cumulative race score, with a second discard coming into play after ten races have been sailed in total during the regatta.
In the ILCA 7 fleet, dual Olympic gold-medallist Matt Wearn had an up and down day, copping an 11th place in Race Five, only to turn things around with a win in Race Six after fighting off early race leader Eddie Reid, with Wearn's decision to take the left of the course after the bottom mark paying big dividends.
Reid is currently sitting in sixth place on 29 points after dropping an eighth place and is the leading Tasmanian in the ILCA 7 Fleet.
Principal Race Officer, Colin Dods, was singing Reid's praises after racing.
"Eddie is getting better and better and faster and faster... there were pretty challenging conditions out there today with the wind switching around left and right, so clearly that kind of weather pattern agrees with him, because he's come home today with a seven and a four.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can produce in the second half of the championship.
"He's dropped an eighth, is travelling well, and is sneaking up on the main pack.
"Matt Wearn continues to lead... he had a patchy day today with an eleventh and a first, but he's been able to drop that eleventh now that we've got six races in the bag, putting him on nine points, and he's got a seven-point break [on second placed Ethan McAullay, with Zac Littlewood on 20 points]," said Dods.
Murray Duthie's consistency in the ILCA 4 fleet has paid off with two firsts in Races Five and Six being just enough to propel the up-and-coming sailing star from the South of Perth Yacht Club into the ILCA 4 lead and into the Gold Fleet for finals.
Fellow West Australian, Thomas Cooper, also on nine points, dropped his worst score to date of a fourth place after Race Six, and is also firmly in the Gold Fleet for final's racing.
Edward Steedman from the RYCT is the leading male sailor in the ILCA 4 Class with Tasmania's Solidarity Program participant, Cordelia Davey the best-performed female sailor, also making the Gold Fleet.
The final three days of racing gets under way at 1300 on the Alpha Course and 1330.
Racing concludes on Thursday 8 December 2025.
For all full results, please go to: sailingresults.net.
For more information visit the event website.