The Australian Sailing Team has delivered a strong performance at French Olympic Week, finishing with two gold medals, a silver medal, and a strong spread of top-10 results across the Olympic fleet.
Matt Wearn added a second gold to Australia’s tally, joining New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Grae Morris, who claimed gold in the iQFOiL. Laura Harding (NSWIS) and Annie Wilmot also stood on the podium, securing silver in the 49erFX, their first medal as a pairing.
Back-to-back wins for double Olympic champion Wearn in the ILCA7 have underlined his class. After 18 months away from full-time international racing, his return has been clinical, winning the first two Sailing Grand Slams of the season.
“Great to get the back-to-back wins so early in the season and campaign. Palma was nice, but it’s great to confirm the progress here in Hyères,” said Wearn.
“It’s all coming together nicely. There are definitely areas to keep improving, and adapting to the shorter races is something I’ll need to look at. These events were quite close together, so it was always going to be tough to regroup and recover mentally more than anything after such a long time out of the boat. So, I’m happy to get through this one and can recover a bit now.”
Harding and Wilmot delivered a standout performance across the back half of the regatta and held their nerve on the final day to secure second place.
“It feels really good to finally put our first podium performance together,” said Harding. “We’re pretty stoked with the week. It was a tricky regatta, but we’re happy we pulled it all together by the end. It’s a great lead-in to the Worlds in a couple of weeks.”
The result came after a testing week on the Mediterranean.
“We had a real mix,” explained Wilmot. “There were lighter days with plenty of chop, some light offshore conditions that were really shifty, and then a couple of breezier, wavier days. Those are conditions where we’ve sometimes struggled, so it made for interesting racing and kept everyone on their toes.”
Beyond the podium, the results reflected growing depth across the team. NSWIS 49er duo Harry Price and Max Paul backed up their fourth place in Palma with sixth in Hyères, while Ethan McAullay reinforced the strength of the ILCA7 squad with seventh overall. In the Nacra 17, NSWIS Olympians Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown also finished seventh, and Breiana Whitehead secured ninth in the Formula Kite.
Australian Sailing High Performance Director Iain Brambell said, “This week was a really strong indicator of where the team is at, at this stage in the cycle.
“Matt’s performance shows what world-class looks like. To step back into that environment and deliver under pressure is exceptional. But equally pleasing is the ongoing improvements since Palma, evidenced by the spread of results and medal series contested across additional classes. We’re building consistency and depth, and whilst there is still plenty of work to be done, it’s great to see as we track towards this year’s World Championships and LA 2028.”
There is little time to pause, with a busy stretch of international competition ahead. The Nacra 17, 49er and 49erFX World Championships will take place in the north of France in the second week of May, alongside the Formula Kite World Championships in Portugal. The following week, the ILCA6 and ILCA7 European Championships will be held in Croatia, while the iQFOiL Europeans will also run in Portugal.
It’s a packed schedule, and plenty of work remains as the team continues to build momentum on the road to LA 2028.
NSWIS results at French Olympic Week:
ILCA 7 – Men
83rd – Alexander Bijkerk
100th – Julian Taylor
iQFOiL – Men
1st – Grae Morris (AST)
51st – Matthew Quinlan (SSPP)
49erFX
2nd – Laura Harding (NSWIS) / Annie Wilmot
18th – Brooke Wilson / Evie Haseldine (NSWIS)
49er
6th – Harry Price / Max Paul
17th – Otto Henry / Shaun Connor
26th – Kurt Hansen / Charlie Zeeman
28th – Jack Ferguson / Jack Hilderbrand
34th – Daniel Links / Keizo Tomishima
Nacra 17
7th – Brin Liddell / Rhiannan Brown
11th – Ruben Booth / Rita Booth
16th – Archie Gargett / Sarah Hoffman
21st – Jake Liddell (NSWIS) / Niamh Meehan
ILCA 6
54th – Evie Saunders
470
38th – Sophie Jackson / Austin Cross (NSWIS)
Images: Sailing Energy