World Champions Crowned at ILCA 6 Masters Worlds Athens

8th June 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Masters Of The Game — Competitors and medallists gather at the prizegiving ceremony after the 2026 ILCA 6 Masters World Championship in Athens, where world titles were decided across all age categories following ten races Credit: ILCA

The 2026 ILCA 6 Masters World Championship concluded in Athens on Sunday with world champions confirmed across all age categories after a week of competitive racing.

Race officials attempted to complete additional races on the final day, but light winds prevented any further competition. Sailors remained ashore on standby as organisers monitored conditions, but the breeze never strengthened sufficiently to allow racing. As a result, standings from Saturday's tenth race became the final championship results.

The championship delivered a wide variety of conditions, from light and tactical racing to stronger sea-breeze contests. A total of ten races were completed across the event. Poland's Marcin Rudawski claimed the Apprentices Overall title, while Germany's Svenja Iris Weger secured both the Apprentices Women's crown and second place overall.

Britain's Jon Emmett won the Masters Overall category, with Italy's Elisa Boschin taking Masters Women's honours.

American sailor Robert Hallawell topped the Grand Masters division, while France's Helene Viazzo won the Grand Masters Women's title.

Masters Class — Grand Masters Overall medallists at the 2026 ILCA 6 Masters World Championship in Athens: winner Robert Hallawell (USA, centre), second-placed Bruce Savage (Australia, left) and third-placed Tomas Hansson (Sweden, right). Photo: ILCA

The Great Grand Masters championship went to Dutch sailor Tan Kim. Australia's Lyndall Patterson claimed the Great Grand Masters Women's title.

In the Legends division, America's William Symes took gold, while Australia's Kerry Waraker won the Super Legends category for sailors aged 85 and over.

Women On Top — Grand Masters Women medallists celebrate in Athens after the 2026 ILCA 6 Masters World Championship: Helene Viazzo (France, centre) took gold ahead of Jenny Danks (Australia, left) and Alexandra Behrens (Germany, right). Photo: ILCA

Organisers congratulated all competitors and paid special tribute to the Legends and Super Legends sailors, highlighting their continued commitment to competitive sailing and the sport's lifelong appeal. The championship was organised by the Nautical Club of Kalamaki and the ILCA Class Association in cooperation with the Hellenic Sailing Federation.

Published in Laser, Women in Sailing

@ CH Marine website

@ CH Marine Facebook

@ CH Marine NI Facebook

@ CH Marine Twitter

Published in Laser

Tagged under

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

About the ILCA/Laser Dinghy

The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.

It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.

The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.

The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.

Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):

ILCA 4: sail of 4.70m2
ILCA 6: sail of 5.76 m2
ILCA 7: sail of 7.06 m2

ILCA 2026 Calendar

Apr 04–05 — Munster Championships — Baltimore SC
Apr 09–12 — Irish Sailing Youth Nationals — Ballyholme YC
May 09–10 — Ulster Championships — East Antrim BC
May 23–24 — Masters National Championships — Howth YC
Jun 27–28 — Leinster Championships — Skerries SC
Jul 24–26 — National Championships — Royal St. George YC
Sep 11–12 — End of Season Championships — Waterford Hrbr. YC

2026 ILCA World Championships

Men ILCA 7: Aug 23 – Aug 30
Women ILCA 6: Sep 04 – Sep 12
Royal St. George Yacht Club & National Yacht Club (Dublin Bay)

At A Glance – Laser Dinghy Specifications

Designer Bruce Kirby & Ian Bruce

Year 1969

Crew 1
Draft 0.787 m (2 ft 7.0 in)
Hull weight 58.97 kg (130.0 lb)
LOA 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
LWL 3.81 m (12 ft 6 in)
Beam 1.39 m (4 ft 7 in)
Mainsail area 7.06 m2 (76.0 sq ft)

Racing D-PN 91.1 RYA PN 1088 PHRF 217