It was mission accomplished for Matt Wearn and Emma Plasschaert on the final day of sailing in the 2026 Oceania and Australian Open and Youth Championships in Hobart today.
Wearn was in blistering form on the River Derwent winning the championship and his seventh Australian national title in the ILCA 7 Class.
He was the man to beat from the first day of the regatta, with his consistent sailing in the glamourous conditions in Hobart a testament to the calibre of the two-time Olympic gold medal winner in the Class.
Wearn won the championship and the national title on 24 points with six wins from 12 races.
Australian Sailing Team compatriots Zac Littlewood finished in second place on 34 points and Ethan McAullay took out third on 38 points.
Wearn reflected on the week’s racing.
“I’m feeling great, it’s almost a relief that the week is over, I haven’t been in the boat for too long, so six days was a pretty tough ask, with big, long races, it was a bit of a reality check.
“Taking out an Australian championship is always a special one for us.
“Compared to the last nationals a few years ago, it was super competitive, obviously the Australian Sailing Squad sailors have stepped up in the time that I have had off, and just the depth of the fleet too.
“It’s the largest number of boats that we’ve had for a long time, outside the worlds championship in Adelaide,” said Wearn.
It was tight in the ILCA 6 field with international sailors Emma Plasschaert from Belgium and Mardi Erdi from Hungary playing cat and mouse throughout the six days of sailing.
Plasschaert won the ILCA 6 Class overall with a score of 17 points while Maria Erdi was three points behind her, with both sailors winning six races each across the qualifying and finals series.
Zoe Thomson finished in third place overall on 38 points, and as the first Australian home, won the ILCA 6 Australian title.
Thomson kept her powder dry right down to the last day in what was an extremely hard and competitive week of racing.
She went into the last day of racing in fifth position overall and with an eleventh place in Race 11 things were starting to look tenuous for her, but this only served to spur her on, coming back to win the final race of the day, finishing the championship on 38 points.
Thomson was also happy with her week’s work on the water but relieved to be finished.
“We had some really close racing here within the Australian group, which is a good sign for the future and for the Australian Sailing Squad heading into the LA Olympic Games.
“I’ve been trying to work out the conditions on the River [Derwent] this week, I was definitely on the back foot compared to the Europeans, so I felt today that I was finally going to back myself and sail fast, and go for the strategy that I wanted,” said Thomson.
And it couldn’t get any tighter in the ILCA 4 Class with Thomas Cooper and Callum Simmons finishing the championship on equal 26 points with Cooper winning on a countback, and Harry Hogan finishing in third place on 41 points.
For all results, please go to: https://sailingresults.net/?ID=82266
The event website is at: https://ryct.org.au/2026-ilca-oceania-australian-championship/
Words and images: Jane Austin/RYCT Media
The 2026 ILCA Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships are supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania.
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