Australia wins ILCA 7 World Champs

Reigning Olympic Champion Matt Wearn (AUS) won his second consecutive ILCA 7 Men’s World title at the 2024 Championship on January 26-31 in Adelaide, Australia. With 152 boats competing,, completing the podium was Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) in second and Michael Beckett (GBR) in third.

“To win a Worlds is pretty incredible, and to go back-to-back just makes it that much more special,” said Wearn. “To do it in Australia with family and friends around is awesome.”

Wearn will now turn his focus to defending his Olympic Gold, with the Paris 2024 Games commencing in less than six months.

Three North Americans qualified for the Gold Division, with Luke Ruitenberg (CAN) as the top finisher in 40th-place finish, posting his best-ever personal performance at the event and Canada’s best performance since 2020. The others were twin brothers Ford and Marshall Mccann (USA) that finished 44th and 46th, respectively.

Event details – Results – Photos

As neither Canada nor USA finished among the top seven competitors who represent countries that have not already qualified for Paris 2024, both counties still do not have entry for the Olympic Games. There remains one final opportunity at the 2024 Semaine Olympique Française on April 18-27 in Hyeres, France.

Assuming the USA ultimately gains entry to the Paris 2024 Olympics, their representative will be selected at the US Olympic Team Trials being held February 17-24 in Miami, FL.

As for Canada, for each of the ten events in which the country gains entry, athletes and teams can qualify themselves by being the athlete/team with the lowest score combined position from the 2024 World Championships in their respective classes and the 2024 Princess Sofia Regatta, added together, with selection being based on a sailing scoring system (lowest score first).

If there is a tie, the athlete/team in the higher position (based on the sailing scoring system) at the 2024 Princess Sofia Regatta (March 29-April 6; Mallorca, Spain) will qualify to be nominated. If an event is cancelled, it will be replaced by the 2024 European Championships in that class.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Program*:
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7 (41)
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6 (41)
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470 (19)
Men’s Skiff – 49er (20)
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX (20)
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class (20)
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class (20)
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL (24)
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL (24)
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17 (19)
* Quota per event in parenthesis but does not include Universality Places (2 men, 2 women)

Venue: Marseille, France
Dates: July 28-August 9

Details:
• Paris website: https://www.paris2024.org/en/the-olympic-games-paris-2024/
• World Sailing microsite: https://paris2024.sailing.org/