by Jervis Tilly
The national WASZP Association ran 11 events around the country in the last season, and RPA sailors featured heavily both in these domestic events and internationally.
A lot of the attention fell on Louis Tilly, who won all but one of the domestic events he entered. However, it must be said that RPA sailors were hot on his heels throughout, with Will Troop’s performance being notable. He was second or third in almost every one of these events. Additionally, there were strong performances from Ollie Ross and Charlie Snell, who are training hard and continuously improving.
Outside of the racing scene, there was much good work done from the RPA Rigging lawn, with sailors like Rocco Springer and Will Holdsworth putting in a number of days of training across the season. We are looking forward to these younger sailors getting on the racetrack very soon.
The club’s support has been fundamental to the ongoing development of WASZP sailing in Australia. Not only did the RPA successfully host the New South Wales state championships, but it also supported clinics and training whenever these were requested. And I am personally thankful to the sailing office for their flexibility on several occasions. The sorts of activities are an amazing way to bring new people into the class and retain them in the world of sailing.
Internationally, the class is extremely strong in Europe and growing fast in the US. The class is in the process of becoming affiliated with World Sailing and will therefore shortly be running official World Championships, with the first of these expected to be held on Lake Garda in the middle of 2027.
In the meantime, the pinnacle of big fleet WASZP sailing is the International Games, which this year were held in Pensacola, Florida, USA, in March. The fact that Louis, Will and I (Jervis Tilly) competed may have meant that the RPA was the best-represented club at that event. Louis was fifth overall, and so you will see him sailing with the number five on his sail for the next season. He was also first in the youth category. Will was 16th. And I got second in the super masters division.
The games were preceded by an event unique to the WASZP class called the All-Stars invitational, which builds on the success of the SailGP Inspire program and pits the top sailors from 8 WASZP countries against each other. Having won the Aussie Sprint championships in Geelong in December, Louis represented Australia in Pensacola and flew the flag high. The two days of short course sprint racing with no discards were extremely intense. Louis went into the last race in second place behind America’s Gavin Ball, then won it, with Gavin finishing fourth, giving Louis the win by a point and earning the 5000 USD prize kitty. A short doc-style video is in the works, so keep an eye out for that.
All of this is built on a vibrant club racing scene, and the challenge for the RPA WASZPs this season was to be more present rather than continually attending events. I hope the club saw the difference with significant attendance on a number of club racing days. I want to acknowledge the efforts of Johny Harrison, who started racing this season, and the continued involvement of stalwarts like Chris Clegg and Belle Holdworth.
But mostly I want to thank my good buddy and Uber Master, Gary Essex, who could not be here tonight. Gary is the WASZP rep on the relevant club committees and also the national association Treasurer. He sails literally whenever he can and… man, does he love a good south easter! Always looking to be better, Gary asked for some coaching this year to improve his straight-line downwind speed – and I think he got there.
Looking forward to next season, for the first time RPAYC will host the WASZP Nationals, so please look out for volunteer and spectating opportunities in December.
– Jervis Tilly
WASZP Awards
- Ollie Ross – 3rd Spring Pointscore
- Jonny Harrison – 2nd Spring Pointscore
- Louis Tilly – 1st Summer Pointscore
- Jervis Tilly – 1st Club Championship, 2nd Summer Pointscore
- Will Troop – 3rd Summer Pointscore, 1st Spring Pointscore
For more info, the 2025/26 Australian National Championships website is here.
