Olympic sailor headlines ILCA nationals

Fresh from competing in the Australian and Oceania ILCA Championships in Brisbane, Olympian Greta Pilkington will be the star turn at the nationals in Nelson this week.

The 22-year-old Aucklander finished eighth and will back up in the ILCA 6 open grade, which has attracted up to 50 entrants, most of whom are youth sailors and female Olympic aspirants.

Greta and her family’s border collie puppy, Mickey, flew to Nelson on Monday, a day after her parents drove down from Auckland with three yachts and an inflatable RIB.

“They left at 2am to catch the midday ferry across Cook Strait. The conditions could have been a bit rough for Mickey, so he came with me,” says Greta.

It will be a family affair on the water this week as her 16-year-old brother Tom is also competing in the ILCA 6, while 19-year-old George Pilkington is in the ILCA 7’s.

“I wouldn’t call it sibling rivalry as we are very supportive of each other,” declares the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron sailor.

She started out in the Optimist class, enjoyed single-handed racing, and so graduating to ILCA big fleet competition was a natural progression for the recently graduated architecture student.

After finishing 34th in Marseille in her Olympic event last year, Greta is eyeing another huge season.

“Spain, France and then China for the world champs before checking out the Los Angeles venue for the 2028 Olympics,” concludes Greta.

Her toughest competition at this week’s nationals could well come from former-ILCA 6 world champion, George Lane.

The event was last held in the South Island three years ago, and ILCA.nz chairman, Nick Page, says total numbers of almost 100, across three classes, are on a par with that.

“Nelson is certainly shaping up to be another great contest,” Nick says.

“The ILCA class, formerly lasers, has undergone an international resurgence and continues to be far and away the most popular youth and adult racing dinghy in the world,” enthuses Nick.

The other two fleets are the ILCA 6 Masters and the ILCA 7 Combined Open and Masters. The first has about 20 competitors expected with ages ranging from 30 to 65 plus with at least half a dozen sailors.

The Nelson Yacht Club is hosting the five-day Scott Construction NZ ILCA Championship with first of the 10 races starting tomorrow. Tim Pitcaithly is seen as the best local hope.

The ILCA fleets will have company on the water with the Tasman Bay Cruising Club also staging its annual Nelson regatta between 17 and 21 January.