**OYSTER BAY, N.Y.** — The 2025 ILCA U.S. National Championships ended not with a thrilling final downwind leg, but with a still silence that settled over Oyster Bay. The breeze that delivered four races on Friday vanished the next day, turning the shoreline into a gallery of idle sails and shelved ambitions.
Largely, though, the prevailing opinion among the participants was that Friday’s perfect conditions and 4 challenging races more than made up for a couple days of drifting.
### ILCA 4: Liu Claims It Early, Holds Through Calm
In the ILCA 4 fleet, Che Liu (ABYC/BSC) was nearly flawless, finishing with a net score of 6 points across four races (1–2–2–1). Liu’s consistency gave him a commanding lead over runner-up Colton Ford (SCYC), who took second with 11 points, including a first-place finish in Race 2.
Lachlan Duer, racing under the banner of South Carolina Yacht Club, Zim Sailing, and BYSC, rounded out the podium with 26 points — his 8th and 11th in the first two races put him on the back foot, but a late push with 4th and 3rd place finishes secured third overall.
### ILCA 6: Bjorklund Unstoppable in Gold Fleet
Perhaps the most commanding performance of the weekend came from Lauderdale Yacht Club’s Jackson Bjorklund, who sailed to perfection in the ILCA 6 Gold fleet. Bjorklund posted a 1–1–1–1 sweep across all four races, leaving no doubt about who owned the course on Friday.
### ILCA 7: Tight at the Top, Escudero Nearly Perfect
Daniel Escudero (American & Atlanta YC / Windmark Foundation) claimed the ILCA 7 title with 5 points, posting race finishes of 1–1–1–2. Hamilton Barclay followed closely with 9 points (3–2–3–1), and Peter Hurley secured third overall with 18 points (2–5–4–7).
### One Day to Decide It All
The wind on Friday provided a rare window — four races per fleet — but by Saturday, Oyster Bay had flattened into a sheet of glass. Race officers at Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club confirmed cancellations mid-morning, posting a succinct note: “No racing for Day 2.”
That news, however expected, turned Friday’s results into final standings. Sailors hoping to bounce back were left adrift.
“I was planning to climb the board on Saturday,” said one competitor from the Mid-Atlantic. “Instead, we sat on shore and watched the water glass over.”
With 2025’s national titles awarded in less than 24 hours of sailing, the regatta will be remembered as much for its stillness as for its brilliance. And in that stillness, three sailors — Che Liu, Jackson Bjorklund, and their respective podium peers — found clarity. When the wind gave them one shot, they made it count.
