Athlete: Billie McCracken
Division: Under 17 Female
Final Results: 16th Overall | 3rd Female | 5 Top-10 Finishes | 1 Race Win
Thankyou for the travel grant from the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation to support my attendance at the 2025 O’pen Skiff World Championships in Nishinomiya, Japan in July.
I had a great time, I learnt lots and was able to put into practise some things I had been working on. I exceeded my pre-regatta objectives of gaining experience at my first overseas event, sailing to my potential, finishing in the top half of the fleet and having fun.
My results were 16th overall and 3rd female in the Under 17 age group; I achieved five top-10 placings and was one of six sailors to win a race.
I have included a more detailed report with some photos from the event in the following pages.
Thankyou again for helping make this experience possible. Your backing has played a vital role in my development as a sailor — helping me grow technically, mentally, and emotionally. Competing internationally has deepened my pride in representing my club, state, and country, and last, but not least, fuelled my passion for sailing.
Billie McCracken
Training & Preparation
Adapting to Japan’s heat and humidity was an unfamiliar challenge, fortunately we had people from North Queensland on the team and they were able to give us all really good advice on hydration and fuelling. I used the three training days to fine-tune my charter boat set-up, learn local weather patterns, and improve tactical techniques like mark rounding and managing the chop. We also had to learn to tow-out the 2km to the race course from the launch area, which became a fun team bonding session. My favourite part of the training days was learning to work with new coaches with different ideas to my own coach, meeting sailors from other countries, making new friends, and being in the environment of a high-level competition
Regatta Racing Highlights
Over five days of racing, I grew more confident and assertive. I also had to adapt to the “freestyle zone”, defined by two marks on the reaching leg which required us to either stand-up through the zone or do a 360 turn and we had to read a flag on the start-boat to know which move to do. Not doing the right move meant you had to do a two-turn penalty or risk a scoring penalty from the race committee. Despite sailing in a fleet much larger than I am used to, my race-craft improved during the regatta; starting, holding my lane and mark-roundings all got better. I was really pleased with my results, finishing 16th overall and 3rd female in the U17 division—exceeding my own expectations. I had 5 top-10 finishes and was one of only six sailors to win a race.
There are lots of things I need to work on, including being more confident in my decision making, my positioning for the top-mark and not being too conservative.
Cultural & Team Moments
The Opening Ceremony was unforgettable — marching through Nishinomiya chanting “Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi” (we were definitely the loudest). We had a wonderful cultural experience participating in a traditional blessing at the town shrine.
It was a fantastic celebrating our team’s success (Kaison won the Boys U17 (and was first overall) and Maya won the Girls U17 with me placing 3rd) and having the opportunity to stand on the podium with both of them with the anthem playing. I made new friends and felt truly at home with my team. We also had a great time trading gear with the sailors from other countries (our shirts were hugely popular!) and I exchanged my club burgee with the host club.
