Maybe there is a Santa Claus

It is frequent refrain that Norh Americans struggle in the Olympics because the boats used are not common in the continent. This is not a completely wrong position except the ILCA boats were born in Canada, Class racing for the ILCA 6 and 7 is massively popular, and yet it has mattered very little in the Games.

The struggles in singlehanded racing likely has a lot to do with how youth sailing is so focused on institutional doublehanders used in school sailing, but the needle may be moving after Charlotte Rose (USA) finished second at the 2024 ILCA 6 Women’s World Championship. More so, the 2024 ILCA 6 Youth World Championship also bore some fruit.

Held January 14-19 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Jake Homberger (USA) finished third in the 98-boat men’s fleet while Isabella Mendoza Cabezas (USA) was sixth in the 31-boat women’s fleet. It is rare for North Americans to attend this event, let alone finish in the top ten, yet 21 sailors took the trip with promising results. Maybe there is a Santa Claus…