ILCA 7 entries double at the 2026 ILCA Europa Cup in Bodrum

ILCA: the same hull since 1970

The ILCA is the most widely raced single-handed dinghy in the world. It was designed in 1970 by Canadian designer Bruce Kirby with Ian Bruce and was known for decades as the Laser. After a trademark dispute in 2019, it took the name of the body that governs the class, the International Laser Class Association. The boat itself did not change.

The hull is 4.23 metres long and weighs around 59 kilos. More than 220,000 have been built worldwide. The class is strictly one-design: every sailor races the same hull, and only the sail and mast change with the sailor’s size and age. The ILCA 4 carries 4.7 m² of sail, the ILCA 6 5.76 m² and the ILCA 7 7.06 m². The ILCA 7 has been the men’s Olympic dinghy since 1996, and the ILCA 6 the women’s since 2008.

How old are the sailors in each class?

Under the Turkish Sailing Federation’s 2026 Policy Decisions (İlke Kararları), the ILCA 4 is open to sailors born in 2009 or later, with those born in 2011 or later also scored in a junior category. The Europa Cup notice of race limits the ILCA 4 to sailors born between 2009 and 2014, which means ages 12 to 17 this year.

The ILCA 6 has no age limit, and the federation’s youth category covers sailors born between 2008 and 2011, aged 15 to 18. The ILCA 7 is open to sailors born in 2009 or earlier, aged 17 and over, with a youth category for those born between 2006 and 2009.

The Bodrum entry list follows the same ladder. Most ILCA 4 entries are in the under-16 category. In the ILCA 6, 37 of the 40 sailors are in under-21 categories. Most of the open-category sailors, the Olympians among them, are in the ILCA 7.

The European series has 11 events in 2026

The Europa Cup is the season-long racing series of EurILCA, the ILCA’s European region. The 2026 calendar takes in Portugal, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Lithuania, Italy, Greece, Austria, Türkiye, Croatia and Malta. A sailor’s series ranking is based on their three best events. The Türkiye event is held under the auspices of the Turkish Sailing Federation.

The events vary widely in size. The season opener in Portimão set a record with 190 sailors, while Riva del Garda drew more than 640 sailors from 38 nations. With 145 sailors, Bodrum is one of the mid-sized events in the series.

All eight races were sailed in January 2025

The series also came to Bodrum in January 2025. According to EurILCA’s report, 118 sailors from 10 European countries competed from 23 to 26 January. With no wind on the first day, the fleet stayed ashore. Three races a day followed over the next two days in 11 to 15 knots. On the final day, against the forecast, a 15 to 18 knot south-easterly allowed two more, completing the full programme.

This year the Bodrum event returns in the autumn, twenty months later. The programme is again eight races, with the first start at 11:00 on 24 September.

Bodrumspor hosts, Ceren Veziroğlu is chief race official

Bodrum Municipality’s Bodrumspor Club hosts the event through its sailing section. The club began sailing in central Bodrum in 2004 and moved to Azmak Başı in Kumbahçe a year later. In July 2006 the sailing sections of Bodrum Belediye Spor and Bodrumspor merged and the section took its current name. Since then it has been based at the municipality’s Kayıkhane facility in İçmeler, which has storage for 500 sails, two classrooms, a jetty, a slipway and a beach of around 300 metres. The club president is Hadi Türk.

The event is held under the auspices of the Turkish Sailing Federation. Twenty new ILCA dinghies and support RIBs for visiting sailors are also arranged through the federation. October’s U21 European Championship is likewise organised by EurILCA together with the Turkish Sailing Federation.

Ceren Veziroğlu serves as chief race official. A national sailing referee, she is a member of the Turkish Sailing Federation’s Yacht Committee and general manager of the Turkish Offshore Racing Club (TAYK).

The club built its experience of large events in the Optimist. In 2022 it hosted the Optimist World Championship, with 286 sailors from 62 countries, and the International Bodrum Optimist Regatta is a fixture on its calendar every year. According to the club, its summer courses introduce around 250 children and adults to sailing each year. Training is given in Optimists, ILCAs and, for adults, Topper Omegas, with joint programmes run with schools.

The club also develops national team sailors in the ILCA. Three Bodrumspor sailors, Tayfun Türk, Derin Değişen and Ahmet Efe Çanakçı, were selected for the 2026 ILCA 4 national team. Together with sailors from the Era Bodrum and Yalıkavak clubs, Bodrum supplied seven members of that squad. All three are racing in Bodrum this week.

145 sailors from 13 countries

According to the EurILCA entry list, 145 sailors from 13 countries are racing in Bodrum: Türkiye 115, Belarus 9, Germany 7, Bulgaria 2, Denmark 2, the Netherlands 2, Ukraine 2, Argentina 1, United Kingdom 1, Estonia 1, Ireland 1, Switzerland 1, Canada 1.

ILCA 4: 76 sailors. 71 are Turkish, the rest from Belarus, Germany and Ukraine.
ILCA 6: 40 sailors. 30 are Turkish, the rest from Belarus, Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland and Canada.
ILCA 7: 29 sailors. 14 are Turkish and 15 come from abroad.

ILCA 7 entries have doubled

Comparing the two entry lists, the biggest change is in the ILCA 7. In January 2025 the class had 14 entries, only four of them from outside Türkiye. This year there are 29, with 15 from abroad. Germany has sent six ILCA 7 sailors, the Netherlands and Belarus two each, and the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Estonia, Ukraine and Argentina one each.

Two Olympians are on the list. Ecem Güzel of Galatasaray represented Türkiye in the ILCA 6 at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 and won bronze at the 2022 Mediterranean Games. Yiğit Yalçın Çıtak of Fenerbahçe won gold at the 2019 Youth Sailing World Championships and raced the ILCA 7 at Paris 2024. Güzel is sailing the ILCA 6 this week and Çıtak the ILCA 7.

Kumbahçe: south-westerly or northerly, 12 to 18 knots

According to the EurILCA event page, the wind in Bodrum usually blows from the south-west or north, averaging 12 to 18 knots. Ten charter boats are also available locally for visiting sailors who cannot bring their own.

A European Championship on the same course three weeks later

Bodrum’s ILCA autumn does not end with the Europa Cup. The 2026 ILCA U21 European Championship will be sailed in Bodrum from 9 to 16 October, hosted by the same club. Hadi Türk sees the Europa Cup as preparation for that championship. According to the organisers, the event also plays a part in the Turkish Sailing Federation’s selection of the sailors who will represent Türkiye in the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 at the 2027 World Championships.

Results will be published by EurILCA and the Turkish Sailing Federation.

Sailors racing in Bodrum

From the EurILCA entry list, 24 September 2026

ILCA 7 (29)

Germany: Morten Ben Borchardt, Levian Büscher, Till Heimann, Victor Hensel, Franz Lasch, Max Stiff
Argentina: Francisco Gómez
Belarus: Adrian Avgustinovich, Maksim Dziahel
United Kingdom: Archie Munro-Price
Estonia: Tihon Zutskov
Netherlands: Abel Melens, Nicolaas van Nunen
Switzerland: Boris Hirsch
Ukraine: Dmytro Svishchov
Türkiye: Berkay Abay, Kerem Alpay, Efe Arbak, Aras Çınar, Yiğit Yalçın Çıtak, Mehmet Duran Dinç, Umut Eyriparmak, Kutsal Güneş Kurnaz, Fevzi Kurt, Kerim Kaan Ordu, Ali Poyraz Özdemir, Arya Polat, Sadrihan Suer, Kerem Ulu

ILCA 6 (40)

Belarus: Roman Dalkov, Tatiana Drozdovskaya, Renata Druchkova, Yaroslav Komlev
Bulgaria: Semeon Emelianov, Alexandra Lukoyanova
Denmark: Maria Victoria Bøggild, Iben Ziegler
Ireland: Lucy Ives
Canada: Elspeth Simms
Türkiye: İsmail Akçor, Deniz Alan, Zeynep Alpartun, Duru Alpkökin, Deniz Bacıoğlu, Derin Bartan, Demir Bayrak, Su Bayrak, Mert Çakmak, Derin Değişen, Kaya Dündar, Atlas Fişek, Faruk Timur Goca, Uzay Gökyıldız, Kuzey Gürsoy, Ecem Güzel, Arel Hangül, Kıvanç Işık, Tuna İspir, Gazi Sarp Kale, Can Kılıç, Asilkan Öğüt, Didem Şahin, Barbaros Şentürk, Mert Soyken, Naz Tulumcu, Tayfun Türk, Ece Tüzün, Can Uçsel, Doruk Uyar

ILCA 4 (76)

Germany: Akin Hammas
Belarus: Kseniya Machykhina, Maksim Stasev, Sofiya Tsimashuk
Ukraine: Yurii Svishchov
Türkiye: Beliz Abak, Bersis Abat, Mina Acar, Deniz Acele, Atakan Açıl, Kudret Sarp Akçalı, Bora Akın, Rüzgar Akkoyun, Alp Kemal Argun, Hatice Azra Aslan, Bilge Nehir Atlığ, Egenaz Aydın, Can Aydınlar, Deniz Basmacıoğlu, Sarp Belgin, Alize Birinkulu, Melis Bolat, Ethem Çakır, Hayrettin Eren Çakır, Bora Çalışkan, Ahmet Efe Çanakçı, Ada Canuysal, Nil Cebeci, Adin Willem Çebi, Rüzgar Cengiz, Kerem Çifter, Pars Çubukçu, Alp Davutoğlu, Mehmet Mithat Dener, Sarp Deniz, Toprak Erdem, Poyraz Erdoğan, Ege Ertan, Lena Ertürk, Lale Şirin Goca, Deniz Göçmen, Şems Gökbaş, Tevfik Gökçeaslan, Nil Gönen, Emre Gül, Dağhan Haney, Mehmet Gökmen Hergül, Orhan Bora Kale, Maya Karabat, Tuna Kaya, Alin Kından, Balamir Koç, Alp Külekçioğlu, Sabri Poyraz Macın, Oğuz Nur, Emil Öcal, Boran Öden, Ezgi Öz, Özer Öz, İklim Özçelik, Mercan Özlü, Yağmur Öztekin, Elya Sakaklı, İskender Saryal, Demir Saygın, Rüzgar Ege Sayın, Mercan Saylam, Toprak Sepetçi, Halim Aras Seren, Güner Sümer, Sural Sur, Ela Tuğcu, Ela Vural, Mavi Yakıcı, Can Yazdıç, Bora Yeşilderya

We wish every sailor racing in Bodrum the very best of luck.