Great Britain, Australia take Gold at OCR

The second stage of the Olympic Classes Regatta had the ILCA 6, ILCA 7, and 470 classes competing July 19-24 in San Pedro, CA. After five days of qualifying races, a new Final Series format had two short high-intensity races for each class to determine the winners.

In the 470, Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris held onto their multi-day lead to claim gold for Great Britain, followed by Germany’s Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort with silver and Sweden’s Anton Dahlberg and Lovisa Lindner with bronze.

“It was quite exciting,” said Wrigley. “It wasn’t so straightforward in all of the races. There were some pressure differences across the courses which made it more interesting than maybe you might have thought.”

For the British pair, the day provided another opportunity to learn the venue, from the challenge of judging the layline on long upwind legs to navigating differences in conditions in the week’s three separate racing areas, especially the outside course.

“I think the whole world probably knows to go right, but it was just figuring out exactly how that paid out,” said Harris.

In ILCA 6, American Charlotte Rose and Ireland’s Eve McMahon entered the final day in third and fourth, respectively, while Dutch sailor Maxime Van De Werken-Jonker had surged into second overall.

In the hard-fought medal race sprint, McMahon climbed her way back into the top three, winning bronze, with Rose also jumping up a spot to take silver at the Olympic host venue in her home country. Great Britain’s Hannah Snellgrove held onto the overall lead to earn gold, revealing that the victory was especially meaningful to her.

“Some wins mean more than others,” the 2024 Olympian shared. “It’s special to win on Olympic waters two years out from the Games, but this one is particularly emotional for me as it’s my first time back racing since losing my dad a few weeks ago. This gold medal is for him.”

Snellgrove started the event in third before falling to seventh on the second day of racing, ultimately grinding her way back up the leaderboard with inspired finish after inspired finish.

In ILCA 7, Australia’s Matt Wearn sealed the overall win after a week-long battle at the top of the fleet. Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides took silver.

“It feels good to be winning at the Olympic venue,” said Wearn. “It’s a nice way to kick things off.”

Great Britain’s Micky Beckett, who closed the event with a bullet to secure his place on the podium in third, said that sailing in the L.A. Harbor offered up an important chance to begin scouting the subtleties in conditions that will play out when sailors return to San Pedro for the Olympic Games.

“The aim is always to go away having a good idea of what you need to practice,” said the Olympian and San Pedro OCR bronze medalist. “We’re not turning up here with everything perfect, but we are trying to go away with a rough idea that in our own time and over the European winter, we can have a crack at getting better at whatever is required to do well in these conditions.”

The event highlighted the complexity of the future Olympic venue. Sailors experienced everything from light and shifty conditions inside the break water to stronger sea breezes and challenging swells on the outside track, reinforcing the value of gathering knowledge at the venue two years before the Games.

For Wrigley and Harris, who had already spent several weeks training in San Pedro before the regatta, the opportunity to race against an international fleet provided another layer of preparation.

“We’re here for a couple of weeks already, so yeah, we feel like we’re finding our feet here and getting comfortable,” said Harris.

Ireland’s Finn Lynch, who finished seventh in ILCA 7, said that after spending much of the week

Great Britain’s Beckett, leaning into his experience at the 2024 Games, iterated that mastering the venue is going to be about more than simply identifying the favored side of the course. Honing the finer points, he said, is what will ultimately make the difference.

“The basics are easy. It’s the details that are hard and difficult to do well,” Beckett said.

Racing at the future Olympic venue continues in August, when the final stage of the Olympic Classes Regatta brings the 49er, 49er FX, and Nacra 17 classes to the Los Angeles venue. on August 3 to 8.

Event details – Results

2026 Sailing Grand Slam
March 27-April 4: Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca – Mallorca, Spain
April 18-25: Semaine Olympique Française – Hyères, France
May 30-June 7: Dutch Water Week – Almere, Netherlands
June 20-24: Kieler Woche – Kiel, Germany
Jule 13-August 8: Pre-Olympic Event – Los Angeles and Long Beach, USA*

* Location and dates:
July 13-16, iQFOiL, Formula Kite – Long Beach
July 19-24, ILCA 6, ILCA 7, 470 – Los Angeles
August 3-8, 49er, 4erFX, Nacra 17 – Los Angeles

Details: https://sailinggrandslam.com/

Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Sailing Program:
First Week – July 16-20
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class – Long Beach, CA
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class – Long Beach, CA
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL – Long Beach, CA
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL – Long Beach, CA

Second Week – July 23-28
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7 – Los Angeles, CA
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6 – Los Angeles, CA
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470 – Los Angeles, CA
Men’s Skiff – 49er – Los Angeles, CA
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX – Los Angeles, CA
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17 – Los Angeles, CA

Dates: July 16-28