2026 ILCA 7 Men's World Championship at Dún Laoghaire, Ireland - Day 3
by Agustín Argüelles 27 Aug 11:00 PDT
23-30 August 2026
2026 ILCA 7 Men's World Championship in Dublin Bay Day 3 © Jordan Roberts / Down Under Sail
Big Movers and a New Leader as the Elimination Series Opens in Dún Laoghaire
The first day of the Elimination Series got under way today at the 2026 ILCA 7 Men's World Championship, with two races completed as scheduled — under rain, fortunately not heavy.
Racing started at 12:00 as planned, in a 1-metre swell that eased through the second set of races as the wind shifted left. Breeze held steady at around 8-11 knots throughout the afternoon, under cloudy skies with no sunshine all day. All fleets were back ashore between 3 and 4pm.
It was a tough day for several top sailors, including local favourite Finn Lynch IRL, who dropped from first to second after scoring (31)-10. The new overall leader is Ryan Lo SGP, who won the first race of the day and added a 7th in the second:
"It was really tricky today. I got quite lucky in the first race — most of the fleet was intending to go left, and so was I, but I had a bad start and had to speed out to the right. Luckily, I was on a good shift and managed to get to the top mark in a good position. It's been quite a tough day, and I'm just happy to have two keepers. I think it's just about being consistent every day — I don't think I have a target on my back. I'm just looking to reset and see what I can do better, and hope for the best tomorrow again."
Jonatán Vadnai HUN held on to third, just three points behind the new leader, despite a slow start to the day:
"It's still early to say anything — we're only halfway through the regatta. I'll try to do my best in the next four races, and then in the Medal Races, if I qualify, we'll see. It's a long way. I think I just have to keep staying consistent, because I had a bad start today, which is not really forgivable at this level of fleet. So I have to level up my game a bit."
Elliot Hanson GBR and Michael Beckett GBR also kept their fourth and fifth places, now tied on 31 points with Tonci Stipanovic CRO.
The standout British performance of the day belonged to Finley Dickinson GBR, who climbed from 18th to 7th with a 5-4. Zac Littlewood AUS also had a strong day, moving up from 15th to 8th with a 3-8.
Matt Wearn AUS, twice Olympic gold medalist and winner of every main Grand Slam event this year, is having a surprisingly tough time finding his form. After scoring (40)-18 today, he sits 12th overall. Asked about his day, he reflected:
"I think I am doing things about as right as I possibly can. I think today especially, I probably won both starts, and yeah, it turned out the right was pretty good, so people who worked it are getting spat out. I think that's just the way it goes sometimes, but I've got to keep chipping away and hopefully it comes to me at some point.
"At this stage, we've still got four more races of Gold Fleet, which I think today proved anything can happen in. So the majority of the main racing is still to go, I guess, and then obviously the Final Series on the last day too. I've just got to keep chipping away and keep doing what I can do, and hopefully it comes to me towards the end."
With four races of Gold Fleet still to sail, there's still plenty of time for the leaderboard to shift again.
Two new races are scheduled for tomorrow, with the first warning signal at 12:00.
You can follow the races live through the Tracking, and via Reels and Stories on our social media — check the "How to Follow" section below for all the links.
The event is organised by the National Yacht Club and Royal St George Yacht Club, in conjunction with ILCA. It is supported by premium sponsors Sport Ireland and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, and associate sponsors Rooster, The Royal Marine Hotel, XOCEAN, and KPMG.
Find out more on the event website, 2026ilca7men.ilca-worlds.org