Charlotte Rose Ends a 20-Year Wait for a Non-European ILCA 6 Women’s Champion

By Sailing Times Newsroom·14 September 2026·2 min read

Charlotte Rose of the United States is the new ILCA 6 Women’s World Champion, sealing the title on Dublin Bay on Saturday with a 2-6 across the two final-day races, in windy, wavy conditions with breeze in the 12 to 17 knot range. It’s a result with real historical weight: Rose becomes only the third American sailor to win the women’s world title, and the first non-European champion in twenty years, since China’s Lijia Xu took the crown in 2006.

Belgium’s Emma Plasschaert takes silver after a 6-2 on the final day, and Denmark’s Anna Munch completes the podium with bronze, scoring 5-4. Both were within range of the top spot going into Saturday, and it was Rose’s consistency through the closing races, rather than a single standout result, that settled the title.

The championship was sailed out of Dún Laoghaire, and the home fleet had a result to be proud of even without the top step: Ireland’s Eve McMahon finished seventh overall, closing out her home World Championship with a third place in the final Medal Series race on Dublin Bay.

The ILCA 6, sailed by women at the world championship level, remains one of the most competitive single-handed classes in the sport precisely because it rewards exactly the kind of steady, low-drama racing Rose produced this week. There’s no equipment edge to chase and nowhere to hide a bad day; the title goes to whoever manages the fleet and the conditions most consistently across the regatta, and this year that sailor sailed under a flag that hadn’t topped this podium in two decades.