2025 ILCA Under-21 World Championships at Dun Laoghaire, Ireland - Day 5
by Agustín Argüelles / ILCA 28 Aug 18:32 UTC
22-29 August 2025
Despite further tricky conditions with the offshore breeze on Dublin Bay today, racing got off to a smooth start though there were plenty of upsets in both the ILCA 6 Women and ILCA 7 Men's events, leaving just two races on Friday to secure best outcomes.
Women's leader Roos Wind NED finally saw her week-long streak of top five results ended when she had a 41st place in the second race of the day that was dropped and replaced by a seventh from Day 1 last weekend.
Her rival-in-chief Emma Mattivi ITA made in-roads into the Dutch sailor's considerable points margin thanks to a race win then a ninth though this still only closed the gap to 18 points.
"In the second race I made a bad start and had some wrong decisions and that's cost me a lot of points," Wind said after racing. "I'm still in first position and that's really nice but we still have two more races to go so I have to stay sharp, keep focused and fight for two more races."
In turn, Mattivi has a massive margin of 41 points to team-mates Ginevra Caracciolo Di Brienza ITA and Maria Victoria Arseni ITA along with Australians Frances Beebe AUS and Evie Saunders AUS, with the four spread by seven points leaving them effectively hunting the final podium position should the standings remain the same on Friday.
In the Men's event, Ole Schweckendiek GER continued his upwards trajectory as he tightened his grip on the ILCA 7's after the second day of Gold fleet racing. He extended his lead on the leaderboard to 14 points as Edward Reid AUS had a 49th place in the second race which became his discard and now counts his 16th from yesterday's opening race of the final series.
"Today was pretty special - the wind was gusty and shifty and it makes things a little bit more complicated," said Schweckendiek who had a third and a seventh. "You just have to stay in the pressure and get the right shifts; that was the key."
The German is expecting more wind for the final day so is preparing for a lot of hiking.
Reid's team-mate Isaac Schotte AUS had bad first race of the day, coming after his costly capsize on Wednesday when the knot in his mainsheet came undone two minutes into first race of Thursday. That left him in catch-up mode but he still finished 53rd meaning he had to count weighty 27th from his capsize.
Nevertheless, the determined Aussie bounced back in the last race of the day with a highly creditable recovery in the shape of race win and he stays in the podium hunt in fourth place and four points off Athanasios Kyfidis GRE who had a consistent day with a pair of sixes.
Amongst the host nation sailors, Tom Coulter IRL had his best result of the series when he placed second in the first race which was spoiled by a costly Black flag penalty that dropped him to 38th overall. Best of the Irish men going into the final day is Fiachra McDonnell IRL in 15th while Sienna Wright IRL lies 17th in the women's event.
Women's Under-21 - Provisional Top 5
- Roos Wind NED - 24 pts
- Emma Mattivi ITA - 42 pts
- Ginevra Caracciolo Di Brienza ITA - 83 pts
- Maria Arseni ITA - 88 pts
- Frances Beebe AUS - 88 pts
Men's Under-21 - Provisional Top 5
- Ole Schweckendiek GER - 27 pts
- Edward Reid AUS - 41 pts
- Athanasios Kyfidis GRE - 49 pts
- Isaac Schotte AUS - 53 pts
- George Pilkington NZL - 70 pts
Men's Under-19 - Provisional Top 5
- Omer Vered Vilenchik ISR - 90 pts
- Adamantios Petrianos GRE - 108 pts
- Bartol Jocic CRO - 171 pts
- Karol Krupski Teterycz ESP - 175 pts
- Jan Rohde POL - 193 pts
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The event concludes on Friday after the scheduled two final races with further fresh to strong winds forecast.
The 2025 ILCA Under-21 World Championship is organised by the Royal St George Yacht Club, the National Yacht Club, and ILCA, with support from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Sport Ireland, XOcean, and Rooster Sailing.