ILCA Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championship
Queensland’s Mara Stransky is the leading Australian female sailor in the ILCA 6 Gold Fleet competing in the 2026 Oceania and Australian Open and Youth Championships in Hobart.
Stransky, a member of the Australian Sailing Team (AST), had a seventh in Race 9 and a second place in Race Ten to finish the day on 27 points, putting her in third place overall.
Stransky is sitting three points clear of fellow AST sailor, Western Australia’s Zoe Thomson, on 30 points, with Sylvie Stannage one point further back in fifth place and on 31 points.
Leading the ILCA 6 event overall is Belgium’s Emma Plasschaert on 11 points from Hungary’s Maria Erdi on 12 points, who didn’t contest the last race today due to gear failure.
Principal Race Officer Colin Dods gave an update on the movers in the fleet today.
Jasper Stay has had another consistent day on the water (4,4) putting him in fourth place overall in the ILCA 6 Gold Fleet and is the leading Australian male.
It was a stunning day on the River Derwent with a consistent south-south easterly breeze of 10 to 15 knots, good wave conditions, blue sky and stunning clouds providing the perfect backdrop for more champagne sailing in Hobart.
A second discard has come into effect after Race Ten which has resulted in some small movements on the leaderboard,
In the ILCA 7 fleet, it’s the AST sailors from Western Australia, that are dominating the podium with only one day of racing left in the regatta.
Matt Wearn has maintained his lead with a tenth and a first place, dropping the tenth place and finishing the day on 13 points.
Zac Littlewood had a better day on the water than Wearn, with a first and a fourth place, putting him on 23 points.
Ethan McAullay is in third place on 31 points after a third and a ninth today, with Duko Bos from The Netherlands moving up to fourth place overall on 35 points.
Ireland’s Finn Lynch is in fifth place on 42 points, seven points ahead of Tasmania’s Eddie Reid on 49 points in sixth.
The big move has been in the ILCA 4 Class, with early leader Thomas Cooper from Western Australia having a stirling day on the water with two bullets propelling him back into first place, and setting the scene for a show down on the final day.
Queensland’s Harry Hogan is in third position on 25 points.
The ILCA 4 caters for the up-and-coming sailors transitioning from Optimists or Cadets, with sailors in this Class all under the age of 18 years.
After six straight days of sailing, the youngsters will need to dig deep on the final day.
All eyes will be on these two highly talented and consistent sailors as they battle for the ILCA 4 championship title.
The final day of racing gets under way at 1300 on the Alpha Course and 1330 on the Bravo course tomorrow.
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