You’ve got to perform on the last day

The 2026 ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship, held August 25-30 in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, attracted 141 competitors for an excellent test prior to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Anyone with podium aspirations was there.

A 5-race Qualifying Series advanced the top 47 to the Gold Flight, with those points included with a 6-race Elimination Series to determine the top 10 to vie for the championship in a two-race shootout, though this is where it gets interesting.

For this Championship, all those points were halved heading into the Final Series, and then combined with final two races to give more sailors a realistic shot at gold. Elliot Hanson (GBR) was the leader at this stage, but there’s a difference between racing 47 boats and 10 boats. – Full report