2026: A Turning Point for the ILCA Class

2026 marks a true turning point for the ILCA class, as it officially adopts RaceSense for the 2026 ILCA 6 Women’s and ILCA 7 Men’s Senior Worlds, marking the first major ILCA events to implement game-changing OCS detection technology.

RaceSense, designed to make racing fairer, faster and better, will be used at two of the class’s most important events of the season in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland - the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 Senior Worlds, both scheduled to take place late this summer.

The decision follows the successful test event held in Vilamoura in 2025, where the class had the opportunity to experience the system firsthand and evaluate its impact on race management and fairness on the water. RaceSense Director Doug Wake, who was at the event, had the following to share:

“The ILCA pushes the line as hard, or harder, than any other class in the world. We know that general recalls, restarts, and black flags are pain points for ILCA sailors pushing for medals. We can’t wait to bring RaceSense to the racecourse to help ILCA racing run more fairly and more efficiently.”

While the ILCA class is the first to officially adopt RaceSense, the technology has already undergone extensive testing across Olympic sailing. The 49er Class implemented the system at its 2024 Junior World Championships and will run RaceSense at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia in 2026, among other events, while more recent trials were conducted with the iQFOiL Class during training and testing sessions in Lanzarote.

As the largest and most competitive class in the Olympic sailing landscape, the ILCA class brings together massive fleets of sailors competing all over the world. Introducing RaceSense into such a dynamic and globally active class represents a major step forward for the sport.

With this partnership, the ILCA class continues to demonstrate its commitment to innovation and fair competition, and we’re stoked to begin this new chapter together.