Please select your home edition
Edition
InsureMy leaderboard April May June 2025

Nicholas Halliday makes history with ILCA 7 victory at 2025 French Olympic Week - Hyères

by Deyon Lai 28 Apr 11:25 BST 19-26 April 2025
Nicolas Hallyday (HKG) - 56th Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères © Sailing Energy / FFVOILE / SOF

Hong Kong's Nicholas Halliday has made sailing history, clinching first place in the ILCA 7 fleet at the French Olympic Week - Hyères (SOF), and becoming Hong Kong's first ever Sailing Grand Slam (SGS) event winner.

Halliday dominated the event, securing a commanding 23-point lead by Friday 25 April and enjoying a stress-free first-ever Medal Race appearance at a World Cup level regatta. He finished fourth in the Medal Race itself, with New Zealand's Thomas Saunders finishing just ahead to take silver, while the Netherlands' Duko Bos faded to eighth and settled for bronze.

ILCA 7 Podium - French Olympic Week (Hyères):

1st - Nicholas Halliday (HKG) - 48 points
2nd - Thomas Saunders (NZL) - 71 points
3rd - Duko Bos (NED) - 79 points

Earlier in the season, Halliday placed 20th in the first round of the Sailing Grand Slam series, but this week in Hyères, he led from the front and showcased remarkable consistency and maturity in one of the most competitive fleets.

Nicholas reflected on the achievement: "It was super stress-free, really! I'd already won, so I just had to come in here and have good fun, and it's my first Medal Race in a World Series. Going into one of these races stress-free is pretty incredible.

"It was pretty windy today. It was good hiking. These conditions are really fun, especially on the downwinds — you're just constantly surfing and it's loads of fun. The upwinds are hard work, but I enjoyed it.

"It's a really, really high-level fleet. There are so many good guys here, and it's just incredible to race against the top sailors.

"It was a really big range of conditions this week, mostly offshore winds, and it just clicked for me. I had a good feeling for the shifts and pressure on the water. I felt pretty calm every day, stayed patient, and kept an open mind the whole week.

"Now, I head back home to Hong Kong. Most of the good guys here will be going to China for the World Championships in Qingdao starting May 10 — and that's much closer to home."

A special thank you to Coach Harris and Coach Vagelis for their tremendous guidance and support throughout this campaign.

Halliday's breakthrough performance marks a major milestone for the sailing of Hong Kong, China and paves the way for an exciting next chapter at the ILCA 7 World Championships in Qingdao.

Full race results - French Olympic Week - Hyères (ILCA 7):

Related Articles

Int'l Youth Match Racing Champs dates released
RPAYC announce the dates for the 2025 Harken International Youth Match Racing Championship RPAYC is pleased to announce the dates for the 2025 HARKEN International Youth Match Racing Championship, with the 31st edition set to again be conducted on the beautiful waters of Pittwater, scheduled to occur 19 to 23 November 2025. Posted today at 8:42 pm
Dart 15 TT at Rutland
"Nil points" to the wind forecast which proved to be completely wrong on both days The second Dart 15 Summer TT of 2025 took place as part of the Cat Open at Rutland. Twelve Dart 15s took part alongside colleagues from the Catapult, Dart 18, A Class, F16, F18, Nacra 15, Nacra 20 and Spitfire Classes. Posted today at 8:17 pm
D-Zeros at Grafham
The weekend brought together three dynamic fleets for some fantastic racing The Grafham D-Zero Open, expanded to a two-day event this year, took place over the weekend in glorious conditions. Held alongside the Hadron H2 Inlands and RS600 Inlands, the weekend brought together three dynamic fleets for some fantastic racing. Posted today at 7:30 pm
DMS Formula Wing Europeans day 2
No winners in waiting game It took all day for the anemometer to capture an average of 8 knots, before competitors were sent to the water at 5 p.m. The entire fleet mobilized in minutes after a day of football, sunbathing and snacking, paddling their wings to a teasing wind line. Posted today at 7:07 pm
IMA Maxi Europeans Inshore Series Day 3
North Star & Proteus win today's races, while Bella Mente holds a solid lead overall It was an intense day on the water for the Maxi fleet in the penultimate act of the IMA Maxi European Championship, the last stage of the 2025 Tre Golfi Sailing Week. Posted today at 6:05 pm
Eighth edition of the Foiling Awards wraps up
Overall Forlanini Award goes to France's Erwan Jauffroy The prestigious accolades recognising the world's top foiling athletes, products, projects and events over the past 12 months were presented in Genova (Italy), based on online votes cast by the international foiling community. Posted today at 5:03 pm
Devon club sails into its 90th year
Babbacombe Corinthian SC was founded in 1935 in Torquay A Devon sailing club is celebrating a 90-year voyage from humble beginnings in an old fishermen's hut to a thoroughly modern new clubhouse with all mod cons. Posted today at 4:14 pm
Lark class Frank Carter trophy at Frensham
Held every year since 1967 Frensham Pond Sailing Club hosted their Lark Open on Sunday 18th May, sponsored by Craftinsure. The event has been held every year since 1967, racing for the Frank Carter trophy. Posted today at 3:22 pm
K1 Inland Championship at Carsington
Simon Hawkes ran a fabulous training session the day before racing The K1 Inland National Championships were held at Carsington Sailing Club. The variable wind strengths were to prove a challenge for the race teams but nothing could diminish the enthusiasm and anticipation of the 24 entrants. Posted today at 2:23 pm
Melges 24 European Sailing Series event 3 preview
27 teams heading to Riva del Garda Are you ready for some Melges 24 action? A total of 27 boats, representing top teams from across Europe and the United States, are heading to Riva del Garda for the third event of the 2025 Melges 24 European Sailing Series. Posted today at 1:31 pm