Dublin Delivers Lessons as Australian ILCA 6 Squad Eyes Fortaleza
by Lisa Darmanin / Australian Sailing Team 13 Sep 00:15 BST
5-12 September 2026
Mara Stransky during the 2026 ILCA 6 Women's Worlds in Dun Laoghaire © Beau Outteridge / Australian Sailing Team
Dublin Bay once again delivered a demanding test at the ILCA 6 Women's World Championships, with Australia's squad leaving Ireland with valuable lessons and a clear focus on the road to LA2028.
2020 Olympian Mara Stransky was the strongest Australian finisher, placing 17th overall after spending several days in podium contention before a difficult final series reshuffled the standings.
For Stransky, it was a frustrating result, but one she believes will provide valuable lessons as she looks ahead to the remainder of the Olympic cycle. "Overall, the week's obviously been really tough for me," Stransky said. "I've made some significant losses, so it's been really clear what the things are that I need to fix.
"It's painful to have them show up so brutally, but it's obviously better to have that now than later on in the quad. So, some really clear lessons before the next World Championship."
Despite the disappointment, Stransky was able to take confidence from her performance. "I sort of got a bit of a boost, proving to myself that I can do it in conditions that are traditionally one of my biggest weaknesses," she said.
With five Australians finishing inside the top 30, the depth within the squad was evident, but Australian Sailing Team Technical Director Michael Blackburn, who was on the ground in Dublin throughout the event, knows there is plenty of work to be done to close the gap to the front of the fleet.
"It was definitely a challenging week for our squad. The windy conditions and short chop required a good amount of righting moment and an excellent level of fitness," Blackburn said. "We didn't have the pace we needed, and we didn't have the execution we needed in certain parts of the course. There were some good bright spots, but not enough consistently throughout the week. So, we're going to have a good debrief with the whole squad."
"There's still a strong commitment and desire to improve," Blackburn added. "We only have a short runway until the next Worlds in January, so we're going to have to be very focused and targeted on what we try to do with that time."
With the first Olympic qualification opportunity for LA2028 on the line at the World Sailing Championships in Fortaleza, Brazil in January, the lessons from a challenging week in Dublin will now shape the next training block, the focus firmly on closing the gap to the front of the fleet and coming back fitter, stronger and ready.
Full results can be found here
Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (AS Squad), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF), State Sailing Performance Program (SSPP) and other Australian (AUS) results at the ILCA6 Women's World Championship:
ILCA 6 (110 entries)
17th - Mara Stransky (AST)
23rd - Zoe Thomson (AST)
26th - Elyse Ainsworth (AST)
27th - Evie Saunders (ASF)
28th - Frances Beebe (AUS)
29th - Casey Imeneo (ASF)
62nd - Sylvie Stannage (AUS)
67th - Lili McAullay (ASF)