World's top ILCA sailors in Bay of Islands for the 2026 ILCA Nationals
by Nick Page 9 Jan 14:51 PST
14-18 January 2026
Micky Beckett wins the ILCA 7 Senior European Championships in Marstrand, Sweden © Thom Thow / EurILCA
A large group of elite overseas sailors will join the cream of New Zealand ILCA sailors for 4 days of what promises to be exceptional quality racing for the 2026 ILCA Nationals in the Bay of Islands.
The 2026 NZ ILCA Nationals, from 14th to 18th January 2026 at Bay of Island Yacht Club, Paihia, has attracted an entry of just under 100 boats, including the strongest line-up of ILCA sailors seen in New Zealand for many years.
In the ILCA 7 the quality of the fleet will be truly exceptional, with overseas sailors entered including 3 of the current top 5 ranked ILCA sailors in the world; Mickey Beckett (UK), Finn Lynch (IRL) and Duko Bos (NED). Add to that lineup our top kiwi's, current world no.10 George Gautrey, and our defending National Champion and world top 50 ranked Caleb Armit, plus world no.11 Ewen McMahon (IRL), seasoned top campaigner Ryan Lo (SIN) and Haruto Koroda from Japan. That fleet will also include a group of emerging young NZ sailors, including recent U21 Worlds top 5 finisher George Pilkington, and a strong field of NZ masters sailors including former World Laser champion Nik Burfoot.
In the ILCA 6 Open fleet we are privileged to have top international women Erika Reineke (USA) and Frances Beebe (AUS) entered who, along with our last NZ Olympic rep Greta Pilkington and former Men's ILCA 6 world champ George Lane, are sure to guarantee an exciting contest. They will be pushed all the way by a large group of youth sailors including 2025 U17 Women's World ILCA 6 champion Chloe Turner and recent NZ youth worlds rep Tom Pilkington.
In the ILCA 6 Masters 2025 champion Phil Wild will be looking to defend his title, while in the ILCA 4 it is great to see the fleet getting traction in NZ, including 2 sailors, Ellie Tapper and Kiera Dimock, who have recently competed at the Oceania champs in Australia with support from the Oceania ILCA4 Solidarity Program.
Racing gets underway on Thursday 15th with the first 2 of a scheduled 10 races due to kick off at 1pm. ILCA and YNZ are aiming to provide live tracking for the first time at a NZ ILCA event, check the event website ilca.nz/content/2026-nz-ilca-championships-bay-islands on the day for details and to see the full entry list and contest details.