Racing on the penultimate day of the 2025 ILCA Under-21 World Championships on Dublin Bay faced tricky offshore conditions, yet the action began smoothly. However, the ILCA 6 Women and ILCA 7 Men’s events saw significant shifts in the leaderboard, with only two races remaining on Friday.
In the Women’s category, leader Roos Wind from the Netherlands experienced her first setback of the week, finishing 41st in the second race of the day, which was discarded in favour of a 7th place from the previous weekend.
Wind’s closest rival, Emma Mattivi from Italy, capitalised on this with a race win and a ninth-place finish, reducing Wind’s lead to 18 points. Wind commented, “In the second race I made a bad start and had some wrong decisions, which cost me points. I’m still in first position, but I need to stay focused for the last two races.” Meanwhile, Mattivi holds a substantial 41-point advantage over her teammates and fellow competitors, including Australians Frances Beebe and Evie Saunders, who are vying for the final podium spot.
In the Men’s event, Ole Schweckendiek from Germany extended his lead to 14 points after a strong performance on the second day of Gold fleet racing. Edward Reid from Australia faced challenges, finishing 49th in his second race, which became his discard, and now counts his 16th from the previous day. Schweckendiek described the day as “pretty special,” noting the gusty and shifty winds that complicated racing.
Reid’s teammate, Isaac Schotte, struggled as well after capsizing in a previous race, finishing 53rd, which hampered his overall standing. Despite this, Schotte rebounded with a race win in the last race of the day, placing him fourth overall, just four points behind Athanasios Kyfidis from Greece.
Among the local Irish competitors, Tom Coulter achieved his best result of the series with a second place in the first race but fell to 38th overall due to a Black flag penalty. Fiachra McDonnell from Ireland is performing best among the home sailors, currently in 15th place, and Sienna Wright is in 17th in the Women’s event.
The provisional standings as they head into the final day are as follows:
Women’s Under-21 – Provisional Top 5:
- Roos Wind NED – 24 pt
- Emma Mattivi ITA – 42 pt
- Ginevra Caracciolo Di Brienza ITA – 83 pt
- Maria Arseni ITA – 88 pt
- Frances Beebe AUS – 88 pt
Men’s Under-21 – Provisional Top 5:
- Ole Schweckendiek GER – 27 pt
- Edward Reid AUS – 41 pt
- Athanasios Kyfidis GRE – 49 pt
- Isaac Schotte AUS – 53 pt
- George Pilkington NZL – 70 pt
Men’s Under-19 – Provisional Top 5:
- Omer Vered Vilenchik ISR – 90 pt
- Adamantios Petrianos GRE – 108 pt
- Bartol Jocic CRO – 171 pt
- Karol Krupski Teterycz ESP – 175 pt
- Jan Rohde POL – 193 pt
The championship concludes on Friday with two final races scheduled, and fresh to strong winds are forecast.
Follow the event updates at ilcasailing.org.
#ILCA2025 #SailingAustralia #Under21Worlds
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