Ilca World Championship: Strong wind final challenges young up-and-comers, two gold medals for Europe

The Ilca World Championship in Qingdao was more like an abbreviated rollercoaster ride than a classic series. Initially, the men's Ilca 7 fleet and the women's Ilca 6 fleet were unable to sail at all for four days, as foul winds, unfortunate current conditions and hazy visibility made fair racing impossible.

Schweckendiek's Ilca role model is Philipp Buhl

This was followed by a day with light and medium winds, at the end of which, after two races, the 20-year-old Kiel Ilca 7 sailor Ole Schweckendiek suddenly found himself in second place in the large field of 138 Ilca 7s, level on points with the British leader Finley Dickinson. You could see and hear his delight in the interview with the hosts here.

When Ole Schweckendiek spoke about his first World Championship in the senior field and his long-time role model Philipp Buhl, a little spring fairytale was briefly in the air. But then the strong wind final on 17 May took its toll on the young German talent. Ole Schweckendiek finished his senior world championship premiere in 24th place after finishing 16th, (40th) and 18th on Saturday.

The young helmsman from the Kieler Yacht-Club summarised: "It was a strange World Championship with only two days of sailing: one with little wind and one where it was completely banging. But if someone had told me beforehand that I would finish 24th in my first senior world championship, I think I would have been quite happy. I was able to gain a lot of experience."

Future goal: more weight for more speed

Ole Schweckendiek commented on the final day with gusty and shifting winds of around 20 knots, with peaks of up to 28 knots: "Today was really difficult for me because there was quite a lot of wind. The three one-hour races were exhausting. I found it a bit more difficult because I'm not quite at the level of some of the others when there's a lot of wind."

At 1.87 metres tall, Ole Schweckendiek weighs around 82 kilograms. Compared to other top sailors, there is still room for improvement. He himself says: "I definitely need to put on weight and get fitter so that I can maintain my speed over longer distances. I'm working on that now. In terms of sailing, everything actually went well. So I'm relatively satisfied."

The best Ilca 7 competitor from the German Sailing Team at these world championships was Julian Hoffmann, who competes for the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club and the local Alpsee-Immenstadt sailing club, where 2020 world champion Philipp Buhl also grew up. Julian Hoffmann increasingly got to grips with the power play conditions in the three races on the final day, finishing 16th, 7th and 7th.

Ilca World Championship gold goes to Holland and France

At the age of 22, the 2024 Youth America's Cup helmsman is one of the youngest Ilca 7 players in the top 25 of this world championship, just like his team-mate Ole Schweckendiek, who is two years younger. With 17th place, Julian Hoffmann showed that he is also a force to be reckoned with in large senior fields in the future.

Gold at the 46th Ilca 7 World Championships went to Willem Wiersema from the Netherlands, just ahead of two-time Olympic silver medallist Pavlos Kontides (Cyprus). A one-point lead tipped the scales in favour of the Dutchman "flying" in China. The battle for World Championship bronze was even closer: Australian Zac Littlewood (13 points) beat Jonatan Vadnai (Hungary) on equal points.

Britain's Finley Dickinson (14 points), who was still leading in the morning, and his compatriots Elliot Hanson (14 points) and Michael Beckett (19 points) came away empty-handed in fifth to seventh place in the battle for the medals despite the concentrated British strength in the top ten. Click here for the final results of the Ilca 7.

Pia Conradi and Julia Büsselberg in the top 25

The 27-year-old French Olympic silver medallist Louise Cervera from the Yacht Club de Cannes sailed to her first world championship gold in the world championship field of Ilca-6 sailors. Agata Barwinska from Poland beat Eve Mcmahon from Ireland in the battle for silver in the fleet of 99 Ilca-6 dinghies.

Pia Conradi (Duisburger Yacht-Club) was the best member of the national sailing team and fought her way up to 23rd place after an unfortunate early start at the beginning. Olympic participant Julia Büsselberg (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) sailed to 25th place. Click here for the Ilca 6 World Championship results.

Final! Click here for the replay of the live broadcast of the final day, focussing on the Ilca 6 races: