Bill Symes of Portlland, Oregon, once again claimed a championship at the world championships just completed in Barcelona, Spain. (ILCA is of course the class formerly known as the Laser, and there was an entertaining mix of Laser and ILCA logos in the sails!) Symes did it with 10 firsts and a third. He opted out of the last race, which gave fellow Oregonian Rob Hodson a chance to win the final race. Results here.
The ever humble Symes was interviewed early in the event, where he cited “a lot of good breaks” for some wins. Well, 10/11 firsts is a bit more than good breaks.
Other notable US finishers included “Legend” Peter Seidenberg, who again won the Legends class (aged 75+, Seidenberg is in his 80s), Robert Hallowell who won the ILCA 7 Grand Masters class, and Ernesto Rodriguez, who won the ILCA 7 Masters Class. For more information, and plenty of pictures of older ILCA sailors still sailing at a very high level, check out the web site.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.