The ILCA 6 World Championships will commence today in the Al-Mussanah Sports City of Oman. 

The host city has been home to a variety of regattas and sporting events since its inception in 2008. The sailing conditions have proved to be quite challenging and fickle over the past two weeks and the forecast is supporting more of the same. 

Young Western Australian, Zoe Thomson observed, “We’ve had warm weather with light onshore breezes so far and more of the same is expected throughout the week.” 

“I think we can look forward to some fun, close and tactical racing.”

The Australian Sailing Team ILCA 6 squad are set to take on 64 sailors from 31 nations over the next six days.

Since their last event in Varna, Bulgaria, the Australian Laser Radial women have been in Italy and Spain before relocating to the middle east for their final World Championship preparations. 

Tokyo 2020 Olympian, Mara Stransky has been fighting off some illness and has struggled to get out on the water for her final preparations in Oman. Despite being bedridden the Queenslander is raring to go, “I’m just super excited to feel good enough to go sailing again,” Stransky shared. 

The young sailor will be relying on some solid blocks of training from the past two months.

“We went to Lake Garda, Italy for a fitness block which was awesome, then on to Dénia, Spain to train with the Dutch, Polish and Germans, somewhere a bit warmer which felt really productive.”

Light to moderate sea breezes are anticipated for the first half of the championship, with the chance of more system driven conditions for the sailors as they move towards the pointy end of the regatta. 

Two races are scheduled for the first day of racing.

Australian Sailing Team (AST),  Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and other Australian (AUS) entries:

Laser Radial (64 Boats) 

Mara Stransky (AST) 
Elyse Ainsworth (ASS)
Casey Imeneo (ASS) 
Zoe Thomson (ASS) 
Evie Saunders (AUS) 
Paige Caldecoat (AUS) 

Words: Lisa Darmanin