District 24 ILCA Championship Sailed in Santa Cruz

2028 Olympic hopeful Lauren Wilson, whose campaign we highlighted in the May edition of Latitude, gives her account of the District 24 ILCA Championship held on May 9–10.

The recent District 24 Championship at Santa Cruz Yacht Club was a reminder that Santa Cruz rarely gives sailors the same conditions twice.

Saturday was all about survival and adaptation. Competing northwest and southeast wind systems created massive shifts — at times nearly 180º apart — making it difficult for the racecourse to settle into anything consistent. The ILCA 7 fleet attempted a start in one direction before the breeze completely shut down as the opposing system took over.

The race committee made the right call to postpone, and eventually a light southerly filled just enough for us to squeeze in one race. And what a strange race it was! We were surfing upwind through leftover swell coming from almost the opposite direction of the wind, followed by a downwind leg that slowly turned into a tight reach to the finish. Peak Santa Cruz.

Sunday was much more productive. The first race started light and similarly wonky, but by race two the breeze finally began settling into Santa Cruz’s more familiar pattern. The wind clocked right, pressure filled across the course, and conditions steadily built throughout the day. By the final race, sailors were fully powered up and hiking hard through classic Santa Cruz breeze and swell.

Congratulations to Toshinari Takayanagi for taking the ILCA 6 win with an incredibly consistent series, followed by Lauren Wilson in second and David LaPier in third.

In the ILCA 7 fleet, Al Sargent took top honors, followed by Peter Phelan in second and Nick Pullen in third.

A huge thanks to the volunteers and race committee at Santa Cruz Yacht Club for staying patient through a challenging weather weekend and successfully delivering a great championship.