2024 ILCA 4 Youth Worlds Viana do Castelo, PORTUGAL
The ILCA 4 world championships held in Portugal from the 22nd to the 30th of June 2024 was an amazing opportunity which provided me with the invaluable experience of competing at an international level.
We arrived at the venue a week before the championships started which gave us the opportunity to train just as team Australia as well as in a larger group of sailors from around the world. The week of training not only allowed me to learn how to better sail in the varying conditions of the venue but also allowed me to build relationships with new coaches and sailors.
All Fleets launched for the first day of racing, but the racecourse disappeared behind a thick layer of fog. After sitting in it for over an hour we got towed back in with all races for the day abandoned.
Viana provided much better conditions for the second day of racing with the wind building from 8 to 18 knots throughout the two races. After a couple general recalls and a few black flag disqualifications my fleet finally had a clean start, I had an ok start and a good race in the lighter conditions which suited me ending up placing 28th in the first race. I didn’t have the best start on the second race, and I wasn’t able to recover as the wind picked up I received a 65th.
The last day of the qualifying series was a windy and wavy one, unfortunately I struggled in the heaver conditions being one of the smallest in the fleet (I needed to eat more pasta), I finished qualifying with a 55th ,66th and a 65th which landed me in silver fleet.
There was no sailing on the first day of the final series, the AP went up at 11:30am and all races were called off at 3pm due to the light winds paired large swell.
The second day of finals brought more heavy winds, didn’t quite get the results I was after but learnt a lot about sailing in large fleets and the importance of planning ahead to avoid congestion particularly on the starts and top marks. I finished the day with a 31st ,41st and 38th.
The last day of finals finally brought favourable conditions for me with the wind being 5-10 knots, unfortunately silver fleet didn’t get any racing in after waiting for the wind to stabilise followed by watching gold fleet get general recalls until the race committee decided there wasn’t going to be enough time to race both fleets before the cut of time, resulting in them sending us in. I ended up placing 117th out of the 150 girls for the championship, an overall result I am happy with considering the conditions and competitiveness of the fleets.
Overall, I am very grateful for the opportunity to compete in the event. Although I didn’t have the regatta I was hoping for wind wise, it was still an amazing experience on and off the water. I have learnt lots and made amazing friends. I am looking forward to putting into play the things I have learnt over the championship as well as training to improve on the things I struggled with (and eat more pasta). I am very thankful for all the support, big thanks.