All set for racing in the 2026 ILCA Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championship in Hobart
by Jane Austin / RYCT Media 2 Jan 09:36 GMT
3-8 January 2026
There will be lots of action across the 191-boat fleet over the next week of racing in Hobart © Jane Austin
Competition racing starts this Saturday in the 2026 ILCA Oceania and Australian Open and Youth Championships with 191 entries on the start line, in what is shaping up to be a fantastic week of sailing under sunny summer skies in Hobart.
The event is hosted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania on the River Derwent, with Hobart's kunanyi/Mt Wellington providing an imposing backdrop to what will be a very busy race track.
The event has drawn entries from across Australia and overseas including Ireland, Hungary, Poland, the US, Japan, Singapore, the UK, Belgium and New Zealand.
Ireland's Finn Lynch, currently third in the world in the ILCA 7 Class, arrived in Hobart on Wednesday and is busily preparing for the week ahead.
"I'm feeling great, it's the first time in my career that I'm doing an Australian summer, or winter for us, so I'm loving it.
"We did Sail Melbourne and then trained in Perth and we're here looking forward to the Aussie Nationals," said Lynch.
Lynch is less focused on results in this event and more focused on ironing out some creases in his current processes but would still be happy with a podium finish.
"It's not a very important event for me in terms of results, I've got a few process goals around the start that I'm trying to get right, but it's always nice to be on the podium, so I'd like to be at least top three by the end of the week.
Lynch expects some tough competition to come from Australia and the Netherlands.
"I won't really be looking at the other sailors too much, but I guess the Aussie Sailing Team guys are pretty good and Duko [Bos] got a medal at the Europeans, and obviously Matt [Wearn] as an Olympic double gold medallist is going to be hard to beat.
"It's really high level and looking forward to the challenge... I'm coming into the regatta fresh and am excited to get going," said Lynch.
Maria Erdi, the 2023 ILCA 6 World Champion and Hungary's 2023 Female Athlete of the Year has been working hard on her fitness following surgery for a back problem but is feeling relaxed and ready to sail as she continues her preparation towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"I'm looking forward to six days of the Nationals, we've been trying some new formats, so I'm excited about going back to the old style, and having a proper long, 12-race regatta.
"I've been sailing an ILCA for a long time, Paris was my third Olympic Games, and I've decided to go again, I just really enjoy how competitive the fleet is in the ILCA and the brutality of the Class, how hard it is to win.
"I've been doing this for over 10 years, and I'm still learning things every day; I really enjoy trying to better myself as a human and as an athlete, so I feel very fortunate to be doing that every day.
"And I am here in Australia because the conditions here are great in an Australian summer, in Europe you don't find the conditions over the winter period.
"In Australia, if there is a six-day regatta, there's not much postponement going on, so you just get really good quality hours on the water and lots of hiking, which you don't necessarily get in Europe," said Erdi.
Sylvie Stannage from New South Wales will be competing against Erdi in the ILCA 6 after a hectic year on the international circuit.
"It's been a really long year for me overseas... I'm excited to get back into the domestic competition.
"We did the whole circuit [overseas] this year including Palma, Hyeres, the 2025 World Championship in China, then back to Kiel Week in Germany.
"We've got a really great turnout here [in Hobart].
"We have a really fantastic group of women here so if I can be amongst them that would be fantastic.
And what does Sylvie know about the local conditions at this early stage of the event?
"Well, I've learnt that it's the eighth deepest natural harbour in the world, I was here six or seven years ago for the ILCA Youth Nationals so I'm going to try and call on that knowledge and see if it can come back to me; it's been beautiful sailing so far so hopefully it can be all of next week," said Stannage.
Gina Johnstone from Queensland is sailing in the ILCA 6 in the Women's Under 21 event.
"I'm feeling pretty excited, it's probably one of the biggest events I've done in a very long time, it's so good to get back out there again," said Johnstone.
Evie Saunders from New South Wales, a member of the Australian Sailing Squad sailing in the ILCA 6 Class, is also pumped for the week ahead.
"I'm super excited for this event, it's pretty cool to be able to come down to Tassie, to Hobart, with such nice weather, it's an awesome location or sailing as well, I'm really excited to go sailing with this big fleet as well.
"There's lots of land around here so I'll definitely be on the lookout for a few shifts out there, which is fun to mix it up and keep your head out of the bat, which should make for fun racing.
"My goals are just to stay consistent, and do my process, and stay calm under pressure, and all the other things will follow behind with all the training that I've done in the lead up to this event.
"The heart rate really gets high on the upwind when you are hiking, but it's all really fun," said Saunders.
Championship Principal Race Officer Colin Dods is hoping the forecast good conditions are what the fleets see on the water in coming days.
"The next two days look fantastic, more of the same, warming up to an Indian summer.
"We've got south-easterlies forecast sitting at around 10 knots, so not really much variation for the first two days of actual competition.
"Beyond that we might see a day come out of the west, who knows," said Dods.
Dods expects the competition to be tough for the locals out on the water noting the quality of the international entries.
"I think they'll really push the locals hard even though they are not familiar with the water, I know one competitor from Ireland is using this event as a tune-up really.
"It's an important regatta for some in terms of their preparation, I'm sure they would like to be on the podium, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how the locals rise to the challenge of the internationals," said Dods.
Dual Australian Olympic gold medallist, Matt Wearn, is competing in the ILCA 7 fleet, and all eyes will be on him over the week.
"Yes, Mr Consistency is here and that's the name of the game in a 12-race series with qualifiers and finals, I expect him to do excellently," said Dods.
Racing gets under way at 1300 on Saturday with sailors racing in the ILCA 4, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 Classes from 3-8 January 2026.
The event website is at ryct.org.au/2026-ilca-oceania-australian-championship