The 2022 ILCA 7 World Championships are set to kick off today in Riviera Nayarit on the west coast of Mexico. 

Glamourous sailing conditions are expected as the warm weather encourages a moderate thermal breeze. The Championship will be held out of the Vallarta Yacht Club with 126 entries from 45 nations set to line up across two fleets. 

Spearheading the Australian ILCA 7 squad is Olympic Gold Medallist Matt Wearn, who has been in Mexico preparing for the Championship for over a week with the rest of the Australian contingent. 

Wearn has had a strong return to international racing following a small break after the Olympics posting a second and fifth overall at the last two international events. He is pleased with how the preparation has gone and has been adapting to the challenges of the venue and supplied equipment. 

“The preparation has been going well with getting used to the charter boat and being back in a warmer climate again after a chilly Europe trip,” Wearn shared. 

“It's the classic pre-World's situation where we have massive training fleets, which always makes it difficult to see where you are at but I am positive about next week.”

The conditions are expected to favour the Australian ILCA 7 squad, “We mostly see between 10 and 18 knots which should make for some great racing,” Wearn finished. 

Australian ILCA 7 coach Rafa Trujillo will be assisting the six Australian sailors to navigate the challenges of the competition. Trujillo has been coaching the Australian ILCA 7 since late 2021 and has witnessed their development and potential. 

“The team has not had the best start to the season due to various injuries and illness,” Trujillo commented. “We have had inconsistent performances in the squad at the European events with a mix of great domination days and bad days.”

Trujillo continued, “We have a good lead up into the World Championship and the majority of the squad is healthy and ready for Worlds, I hope all sailors can perform at their best level here.”

High temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius are set to test the sailor’s endurance with hydration and rest pinpointed as critical in maintaining peak performance over the week-long competition.  
Twelve races are scheduled across six days with finals expected to commence on Thursday and the Championship decided on Saturday.

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS),  and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) entries:

ILCA 7 (126 Boats) 
Finn Alexander (ASS) 
Luke Elliott (AST) 
Sam King (ASF) 
Zac Littlewood (AST) 
Ethan McAullay (ASS)
Matt Wearn (AST) 

Words: Lisa Darmanin