Planning for the 2026 ILCA 7 Men’s and ILCA 6 Women’s World Championships being co-hosted by the NYC and RSGYC is well underway.
The ILCA 7 and 6 (previously known as the Laser and Laser Radial) are the classes used for the men’s and women’s single person dinghy sailing events at the Olympic Games and these two championships will be the first Olympic sailing class world championships to be held in Ireland since the men’s Laser Worlds in Cork in 2001. They were secured by the two Clubs against stiff competition from several other venues in Europe and beyond and their award is recognition of the success of previous World and European Laser Championships and other major events run by the Clubs over last 20 years.
Olympic sailing class world championships are generally only held in Europe once every 4 years and as such, this is a once in a generation opportunity for Ireland to host such a prestigious and high calibre event. The 2024 Championship was hosted in Sydney and 2025 in Qingdao, China. Entry is limited to 160 men and 120 women competitors, all of whom are campaigning for a place at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. It’s an all charter boat event with 160 new ILCAs being shipped from Thailand to Dun Laoghaire by ILCA charter specialist Ziegelmayer Handelgesellschaft. Dun Laoghaire is set to be a hub of activity from April onwards as teams come to prepare and familiarise themselves with the venue.
The notices of race for the two championships have been published and confirmed the schedule as follows:
2026 ILCA 7 Men’s World Championships: 23 to 30 August 2026 (with official training at the venue commencing on 18th August).
2026 ILCA 6 Women’s World Championships: 05 – 12 September 2026 (with official training at the venue commencing on 31st August).
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council have generously provided the Clubs the exclusive use Carlisle Pier for ILCA parking for the 5 week period of the events, This will allow regular club activities on the platforms to continue as normal. Having the event on home shores gives a unique opportunity to show our younger sailors what an Olympic class world championships looks like and will no doubt be inspiring for them to see their heroes up close and personal.
Watch this space for updates in the coming weeks- if you would like to be involved in these amazing world championships, let us know.