2026 ILCA 6 Youth World Championship: New Zealand's Chloe Turner holds podium position, Tom Pilkington leads charge in boys' fleet after opening gold fleet races
Chloe Turner has carried her excellent form into the finals series at the ILCA 6 Youth World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, holding on to third place overall after the first two gold fleet races.
The 17-year-old Aucklander backed up her strong qualifying series with scores of six and two on Aarhus Bay to retain the red bib as the leading New Zealander heading into the final two days of racing.
Turner has also closed the gap on the two sailors ahead of her, with Greece’s Hermionie Ghicas and Ireland’s Sienna Wright.
Ghicas won the opening race of the final series to extend her remarkable winning streak to six races, before Wright ended that run by taking victory in the second race.
Turner’s consistent results have left her on 30 points, 16 points behind leader Ghicas, with Wright on 14 and the Czech Republic’s Beata Dokoupilova fourth on 32.
With two races scheduled today and two more tomorrow, Turner remains firmly in the hunt for a podium finish — and potentially more — at the world championships.
Chloe Turner retained the red bib after another consistent showing - this time on the first day of finals racing. Photos / ILCA
In the men’s fleet, Tom Pilkington continues to lead the Kiwi charge, sitting 15th overall and within striking distance of the top 10.
Pilkington produced another solid day in the gold fleet and will have four more races to make his move up the standings in a fleet of more than 300 sailors.
He is joined in the gold fleet by teammates Arran Begic, who is 43rd overall, and Toby Dunn in 61st.
Thomas Linklater (114th) and Isaac Gaites (118th) are competing in the silver fleet.
In the bronze fleet, Lukas Johnson produced one of the standout Kiwi performances of the day, following a second-place finish in the opening race with victory in the second.
That result lifted Johnson to seventh in the bronze fleet and 163rd overall.
Teammates Thomas Jurczyluk and George Turner sit 174th and 177th, respectively.
Latest results and standings here.
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