Double Olympic Champion Matt Wearn has made a commanding return to international racing, taking out the ILCA 7 title at the Trofeo Princesa Sof\u00eda, the opening Sailing Grand Slam of the season.<\/p>\n
In his first major regatta since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Wearn delivered a composed performance across the week, all the more impressive given he hasn\u2019t raced in a fleet of this size and quality for almost two years.<\/p>\n
Now beginning his campaign towards a third consecutive Olympic gold medal,\u00a0an achievement only one Australian athlete has ever\u00a0accomplished\u00a0in the same individual event, Wearn\u2019s\u00a0return has\u00a0immediately\u00a0set the tone for the LA 2028 cycle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Wearn, the focus remains simple. \u201cA win is a win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great to be the first one back. There was going to be plenty of rust to shake off, and there still is, but we\u2019re at the front, which is a nice feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the road to Los Angeles is still long, the early signs are promising. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how LA conditions compare to this week, but it obviously helps the motivation that you\u2019re at the front of the fleet, and I\u2019m enjoying my sailing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s strength across the fleets was also on display throughout the regatta.<\/p>\n
In the 49er, Harry Price and Max Paul narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth after leading the fleet for much of the week in a highly competitive skiff field.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, it feels really positive,\u201d said Price. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to come to Europe and put into practice what we\u2019ve been working on all summer. To come away with a result like this in variable conditions is encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul added, \u201cAt the end of the day, this is a stepping stone towards the bigger regattas later in the year. It\u2019s a positive start to the season for us, but we want to build on this momentum and push towards the Worlds in May.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Nacra 17, Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown secured a strong eighth-place finish, gaining valuable finals experience in a highly competitive fleet as they continue to build towards LA 2028.<\/p>\n
The Australian ILCA 6 squad also showed strong depth, with three Australians finishing inside the top 11. Olympians Mara Stransky (8th) and Zoe Thomson (9th) led the charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a lot of promise going forward,\u201d said Thomson. \u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of a big training block right now, so we\u2019re building towards the Europeans and World Championships later in the year. It\u2019s a really solid sign of where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the challenging conditions in Palma, Thomson added, \u201cWe had a lot of offshore, eight-hour days on the water, around 13\u201315 degrees, so coming off the Australian summer, it was pretty hard to adapt and maintain focus in the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australian Sailing Team High Performance Director Iain Brambell said the regatta provided a valuable benchmark early in the international season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always valuable to see athletes re-engage with the international fleet and measure the progress made throughout the domestic training and competition season,\u201d Brambell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking ahead, the focus is on improving conversion from Gold Fleet positions into Medal Series appearances, and ultimately turning those opportunities into consistent podium finishes. With a packed calendar this season, the team is excited for a year of highly competitive racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Australian Sailing Team will next compete at French Olympic Week in Hy\u00e8res from 20\u201325 April, another key Sailing Grand Slam event and a critical marker as the international season builds towards the individual World Championships later in the year.<\/p>\n
Results can be found here<\/a> ILCA 7 (199 entries) 49er (101 entries) ILCA 6 (143 entries) Nacra 17 (42 entries) Formula Kite \u2013 Women (31 entries) iQFOiL \u2013 Men (119 entries) 49erFX (62 entries) iQFOiL \u2013 Women (70 entries) Formula Kite \u2013 Men (56 entries) 470 About Australian Sailing The Australian Sailing Team is the national representative team for Olympic-class sailing, bringing together Australia\u2019s elite athletes and rising stars through a unified high-performance pathway within Australian Sailing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Media Contact\u00a0 Follow the Australian Sailing Team #AustralianSailing #Sailing #TrofeoPrincesaSofia #SailingNews<\/p>\n Interested in seeing more Racing News? Click here<\/a><\/p>\n Want to see what we\u2019ve written about Australian Sailing lately? Click here<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\tPost navigation<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\u00a0Wild Thing claims line honours in 2026 Brisbane to Gladstone<\/a>55th Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sof\u00eda \u2013 Day 6\u00a0<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Double Olympic Champion Matt Wearn has made a commanding return to international racing, taking out the ILCA 7…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,150337,44,139183,249771],"class_list":["post-586011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-buffer","tag-news","tag-race-results","tag-regatta-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Australian Sailing Team (AST)<\/a>,\u00a0Australian Sailing Squad (AS Squad)<\/a>,\u00a0Australian Sailing Futures (ASF),\u00a0State Sailing Performance Program (SSPP)<\/a>\u00a0and other Australian (AUS) results at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta:<\/p>\n
1st\u00a0\u2013 Matt Wearn (AST)
13th\u00a0\u2013 Ethan McAullay (AST)\u00a0
34th\u00a0\u2013 Zac Littlewood (AST)
48th\u00a0\u2013 Michael Compton (AS Squad)
55th\u00a0\u2013 Lawson McAullay (AS Squad)
86th\u00a0\u2013 Isaac Schotte (AS Squad)
138th\u00a0\u2013 Alexander Bijkerk (SSPP)<\/p>\n
4th\u00a0\u2013 Harry Price \/ Max Paul (AS Squad)
23rd\u00a0\u2013 Jack Ferguson \/ Jack Hilderbrand (AS Squad)
36th\u00a0\u2013 Otto Henry \/ Shaun Connor (AS Squad)<\/p>\n
8th \u2013 Mara Stransky (AST)
9th \u2013 Zoe Thomson (AST)
11th \u2013 Casey Imeneo (AS Squad)
27th \u2013 Elyse Ainsworth (AST)
45th \u2013 Frances Beebe (AUS)
60th \u2013 Sylvie Stannage (AUS)
67th \u2013 Evie Saunders (AS Squad) \u00a0
88th \u2013 Ellen Sampson (ASF)
103rd \u2013 Lili McAullay (ASF)<\/p>\n
8th\u00a0\u2013 Brin Liddell \/ Rhiannan Brown (AST)
19th\u00a0\u2013 Ruben Booth \/ Rita Booth (AS Squad)
22nd\u00a0\u2013 Archie Gargett \/ Sarah Hoffman (AS Squad)
24th\u00a0\u2013 Jake Liddell \/ Niamh Meehan (AS Squad)<\/p>\n
11th\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Breiana Whitehead (AST)<\/p>\n
12th\u00a0\u2013 Grae Morris (AST)
25th\u00a0\u2013 Rory Meehan (AS Squad)
65th\u00a0\u2013 Phillip Crispey (ASF)
73rd\u00a0\u2013 Jarrod Jones (ASF)
85th\u00a0\u2013 Matthew Quinlan (SSPP)<\/p>\n
23rd\u00a0\u2013 Laura Harding \/ Annie Wilmot (AS Squad)
48th\u00a0\u2013 Brooke Wilson (ASF) \/ Evie Haseldine (AS Squad)<\/p>\n
45th \u2013 Anna Crispey (ASF)
50th\u00a0\u2013 Sammie Costin (AUS)<\/p>\n
45th\u00a0\u2013 Oscar Timm (SSPP)<\/p>\n
35th\u00a0\u2013 Sophie Jackson \/ Austin Cross (ASF)
40th\u00a0\u2013 Sienna Brown \/ Ellis Merrit (ASF)
43rd\u00a0\u2013 Ben Hinks \/ Fallon Katz (ASF)
46th\u00a0\u2013 Alice Buchanan \/ Angus Higgins (SSPP)<\/p>\n
Australian Sailing is the governing body for the sport of Sailing in Australia. We are responsible for the administration, promotion and development of sailing. We are a member-based organisation that represent the interests and provides services and support to over 360 clubs across Australia as well as more than 160 accredited Discover Sailing Centres.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lisa Darmanin<\/p>\n
Web: www.australiansailingteam.com.au<\/a>
Instagram: @aussailingteam
Facebook: @aussailingteam<\/p>\n