Sail Melbourne 2025 - World-Class Racing Closes Out Classic Regatta
Sail Melbourne 2025 wrapped up in spectacular style today, with wild weather in the form of two solid squalls hitting Port Phillip right as the final races were being set to start.
Unfortunately that meant most classes were sent back to shore, with only the ILCA and iQFOiL classes getting the final day of racing in, but it didn’t dampen what had been another classic Sail Melbourne with sailors tested in conditions ranging from too much wind to too little and everything in between.
Lawson McAullay in the ILCA 7 CREDIT Down Under Sail
Reigning back-to-back Olympic ILCA 7 champion Matt Wearn dominated from start to finish in his return to competition for the first time since Marseille, and was happy to be back in a familiar setting.
“It was nice to be back competing in the ILCA again,” said Wearn. “It’s something I've been doing for a long time, so it feels nice to get back into that familiar environment and get the competitive juices going. But it was a tough week and certainly a lot of holes that need to be filled.”
The ILCA classes trialled the proposed new Olympic finals format today, which wasn’t a problem for Wearn but saw an extremely close finish play out in the ILCA 6 class.
Belgium’s Emma Plasschaert took the win after a powerful final series winning by one point from Charlotte Rose (USA) with Maria Erdi (HUN) and Matilda Nicholls (GBR) following closely. Zoe Thomson finished the best of the Aussies in fifth.
Casey Imeneo in the ILCA 6 class CREDIT Down Under Sail
One of the things that makes Sail Melbourne so special is the mixture of youth and pathway classes racing alongside their Olympic heroes. It wasn’t uncommon to see Wearn rigging up alongside Optimist sailors in Royal Brighton’s boat park.
In the 420 class it was William and Stewart Rose from Mordialloc Sailing Club who took out the win after an interrupted day two of racing, but Skipper Will noted they had “great racing on day one where we were focusing on our downwind sailing, in particular, big waves and going deep.”
Australia’s Otto Henry and Shaun Connor marked themselves as a team to watch in the 49er class, taking the win ahead of compatriots Harry Price and Max Paul in second and Jack Ferguson and Jack Hildebrand in third.
“It went pretty well. We had two windy days and one light wind day,” said Henry. “We were happy with how we performed across the conditions and it was good, fun, well organised event.”
Connor noted that there is little time to rest for the squad before attacking the European season in just a couple of months.
“We're actually going to put our boats in a container and go across the ditch to New Zealand where we are going to do some training with the New Zealand squad throughout January and February, and then we're over to Europe for the first event in Palma.”
49erFX podium CREDIT Down Under Sail
Sail Melbourne once again showcased not only elite skill but also the depth of Australian and international sailing talent on display. The event saw 332 sailors from 15 countries compete in 272 boats in 19 divisions on five separate courses, including the 2025 Australian Para Sailing Championships for the 2.4mR class.
Australian Sailing would like to thank Royal Brighton Yacht Club and the partner clubs for their efforts in delivering another outstanding regatta. Commodore Peter Demura and his team including the Jury (Chaired by Doug Elder), Regatta Chair Paul Pascoe, Principal Race Officer Peter Osbourne, the Course race officers and countless other volunteers deserve unlimited thanks for making the regatta such a success.
The event was also proudly supported by the Victorian Government’s Significant Sporting Events Program.
Find a full list of results on the regatta website.
PHOTOS: Down Under Sail
