Perth’s Matt Wearn has broken through for his maiden ILCA 7 World Championship, breaking a run of three consecutive silver medals.

The World Championship Gold will sit neatly alongside the Olympic title he collected at Tokyo 2020 and sets him on a path to continue Australia’s golden run in the class at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“It feels fantastic, it’ll probably sink in a little bit later tonight when I can sit somewhere quiet and have a chat with (wife) Emma,” said Wearn.

“It’s just incredible to be so close so many times, and to come out with it now is great, especially with everything that has happened in the last eighteen months.”

Wearn had an insurmountable 20-point lead coming into the Medal Race, but still had to sail the race cleanly to collect the crown.

Matt Wearn CREDIT Sailing Energy

Wearn transitioned from long-time Coach Michael Blackburn to Rafa Trujillo after the Tokyo victory, and the pair have now won the Paris Olympic Test Event in Marseille and a World Championship in the past two months.

“Now it feels like we are really starting to gel,” said Wearn of his relationship with Trujillo.

“It’s been a great change-up and it’s been great for the squad as well. I think the good thing is we still have a lot of work to do, Rafa and I, so we will work on that over the summer in Australia.

That summer will include a defence of the title he won here today, when the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championships take place at the Adelaide Sailing Club in January.

Matt Wearn CREDIT Beau Outteridge

Queensland’s Mara Stransky qualified for today’s ILCA 6 Medal Race in tenth place, but a slow start proved costly.

“I had an opportunity to move up a couple of spots, but I needed to win the race,” said Stranksy.

“In the end I didn’t have my best day, but I am still happy to come away with a top ten finish at the Worlds.”

Today’s racing brought the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships to a close, with Australian Sailing Team High Performance Director Iain Brambell delighted with the “very exciting performance” of the Australian Team. 

Carolijn Brouwer and Mara Stransky CREDIT Beau Outteridge

“With five classes qualified for the Paris Games and three medals, including Matt’s impressive Gold and Bronze in the 49erFX and Women's Hansa 303, we are on a very positive trajectory into Paris,” said Brambell.

“We have many learnings coming out of these championships that will be carefully debriefed to ensure we continue to convert more boats into Medal Races across more classes to ensure there are more Australian crews positioned for podium performances in Paris.”

There isn’t much rest for Australia’s Formula Kite athletes, as they are off to their European Championships in Portsmouth next month.

Visit the event website for more details on the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championship, and you can see the full results in the Results Centre.

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) and other Australian results at the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships: 

ILCA 7 – Medal Race 
1st - Matt Wearn (AST/WA) – 11, 11, 6, 5, 1, 3, 2, 7, 25, (65), Medal Race – 12 (83 points)

ILCA 7 – Gold fleet – 10 races (one drop) 
17th - Ethan McAullay (ASS/WA) – 6, 47, 8, 7, 18, 38, (51), 23, 5, 28 (180 points)
20th - Luke Elliott (ASS/WA) – 7, 14, 41, 5, 7, 37, 33, 12, (70 BFD), 27 (183 points)
34th - Zac Littlewood (ASS/WA) – 13, 36, (50), 27, 39, 5, 19, 43, 3, 41 (226 points)
35th - Finn Alexander (ASS/NSW) – 14, 14, 48, 40, (53), 12, 15, 2, 39, 44 (228 points)

49erFX – Gold fleet – 15 races (one drop)
3rd - Olivia Price & Evie Haseldine (ASS/NSW) – 1, 4, 2, 3, 2, 5, 3, 10, 9, 3, 12, (23), 4, 10, 20 (88 points)
20th - Laura Harding & Annie Wilmot (ASS/VIC & NSW) – 9, 19, 14, 5, 6, 18, 18, 4, 14, 5, (24), 3, 11, 22, 21 (169 points)

49erFX – Silver fleet – 15 races (one drop)
34th - Mina Ferguson & Dervla Duggan (ASF/NSW & ASS/VIC) – 12, 3, 20, 10, 14, 6, 24, (30 RET), 20, 17, 27, 6, 10, 23, 5 (197 points)
38th - Natasha Bryant & Madeleine McLeay (ASF/NSW) – (28), 22, 18, 19, 12, 23, 2, 12, 19, 3, 20, 24, 16, 20, 6 (216 points)

Women’s Hansa 303 (11 entries)
3rd - Alison Weatherly (VIC) (7), 5, 3, 3, 3, 6, 1, 4, 5, 4 (34 points)

Men’s iQFOiL – Quarter Final
9th - Grae Morris (ASS/NSW) – (23), 1, (51 DNF), 3, 5, 9, 11, 1, 7, 6, 5, 1, (30), 2 (51 points) – Quarter Final: 8 BFD

Men’s iQFOiL – Gold fleet – 14 races (three drops)
36th - Harry Joyner (ASS/WA) – (27), 11, 27, 5, 15, (37), 17, 21, 13, 17, 28, 29, (41), 36 (219 points)

Men’s iQFOiL – Silver fleet – 14 races (three drops)
87th - Jack Marquardt (VIS) – 31, 45, 23, (51 DNC), 39, 37, 35, (51 DNC), 51 DNC, 33, 35, 33, 32, (37) (394 points)

ILCA 6 – Medal Race
10th - Mara Stranksy (ASS/QLD) – 28, 2, 2, 22, 15, 25, (40), 14, 4, 10, Medal Race – 17 STP (139 points)

ILCA 6 – Gold fleet – 10 races (one drop)
16th - Casey Imeneo (ASS/VIC) – 16, 5, 8, 35, 3, 1, (36), 24, 26, 28 (146 points)
31st - Elyse Ainsworth (ASS/WA) – 12, 7, (46), 27, 28, 26, 20, 34, 33, 15 (202 points)
35th - Zoe Thomson (AST/WA) – 11, 23, 18, 16, 19, 33, 42, 27, 42, (43) (231 points)
50th - Sylvie Stannage (NSWIS) – 9, 26, 23, 38, 39, 43, 47, (53), 50, 31 (306 points)

ILCA 6 – Silver fleet – 10 races (one drop)
62nd - Evie Saunders (ASF/NSW) – (35), 33, 5, 33, 26, 10, 7, 1, 10, 19 (144 points)

Women’s Formula Kite – Gold fleet – 16 races (three drops)
11th - Breiana Whitehead (AST/QLD) – 10, 6, 4, 10, 7, 10, 10, 3, 5, (11), 4, (20), 3, (19), 11, 12 (95 points)

Men’s Hansa 303 (15 entries)
11th - Peter Coleman (VIC) 12, 14, 11, (16 RET), 11, 11, 10, 9, 9, 9 (96 points)

Nacra 17 – Gold fleet – 15 races (one drop) 
19th - Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown (ASF/NSW) 17, 13, 10, 7, 7, 10, 14, 12, 8, 16, 2, 20, 19, 21, (26 RET) (176 points)
20th - Ruben Booth and Rita Booth (AUS) 6, 10, 12, 10, 9, 7, 12, 16, 10, 22, 25, 18, (26 UFD), 11, 17 RDG (185 points)
24th - Archie Gargett & Sarah Hoffman (ASF/NSW) 8, 9, 14, 13, 14, 15, 16, 6, 11, 19, 21, 14, 20, (23), 21 (201 points)
25th - Jake Liddell & Lucy Copeland (ASS/NSW) 11, 11, 6, 11, 9, 12, 12, (26 RET), 7, 20, 23, 22, 26 UFD, 26 RET, 16 (212 points)

Nacra 17 – Silver fleet – 15 races (one drop)
27th - Lisa Darmanin & Darren Bundock (AST/NSW & NSW) 11, 15, 16, (17), 15, 17, 11, 7, 12, 2, 10, 2, 12, 1, 3 (134 points)

49er – Gold fleet – 15 races (one drop)
21st - Tom Burton & Max Paul (ASS/NSW) – 4, 6, 19, 13, 19, (29 DNS), 5, 2, 3, 16, 22, 19, 16, 10, 2 (156 points)

49er – Silver fleet – 15 races (one drop)
27th - Thomas Needham & Joel Turner (ASS/QLD) – 13, (16), 9, 10, 11, 10, 7, 11, 10, 10, 4, 10, 3, 12, 5 (125 points)
30th - Jim Colley & Shaun Connor (AST/NSW) – 18, 11, 15, 3, 9, 3, 10, 17, 20, (30 BFD), 8, 11, 1, 8, 2 (136 points)
49th - Thomas Cunich & Miles Davey (ASF/NSW) – 26, 12, 18, 14, 9, 12, 2, 17, 16, 20, 23, 25, 17, 20, (30 RET) (230 points)

49er – Bronze fleet – 15 races (one drop)
55th - Jack Ferguson & Jack Hildebrand (ASF/NSW) – (29 BFD), 12, 23, 13, 29 RET, 13, 18, 12, 14, 4, 14, 9, 4, 3, 1 (169 points)

Mixed 470 – Silver fleet – 11 races (one drop)
36th - Nia Jerwood & Conor Nicholas (ASS/WA) – 13, 27, 19, 3, (33 UFD), 1, 8, 11, 10, 2, 8 (102 points)
50th - Sophie Jackson & Angus Higgins (ASF/VIC & ASF/SA) – (31), 25, 13, 15, 30, 19, 16, 29, 20, 8, 10 (185 points)

Men’s Formula Kite – Silver fleet – 15 races (three drops)
44th - Scott Whitehead (ASS/QLD) – 21, (29 RET), 8, (24), 12, 14, 13, 12, (29 UFD), 9, 13, 15, 12, 13 (166 points)

Men’s Formula Kite – Bronze fleet – 15 races (three drops)
56th - Oscar Timm (ASF/QLD) – (23), 14, (19), 18, 17, 19, 17, (24), 18, 15, 13, 2, 3, 5, 3 (210 points)

Women’s iQFOiL – Silver fleet – 14 races (three drops)
63rd - Samantha Costin (ASS/QLD) – (36), 22, 24, 28, 31, (35), 27, 29, 23, 12, 24, (28), 20, 18 (258 points)