The Mercury profiles Tasmania’s best young sailors
Tasmanian young guns are the ruling the waves as national and world champions. Here’s the list of the state’s young stars making their mark on sailing.
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Tasmania has a long and proud sailing heritage from the biggest keel boats to the smallest “single-seaters”.
The state’s elite sailors have won races and set records in the world’s premium events such as the Americas Cup, Admirals Cup, Volvo around-the-world race, the Trans-Atlantic, Trans-Pac, Fastnet and our own Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
Each year the state punches about its weight on the national and world stage in the smaller classes.
Here are some of the rising stars among Tasmania’s youth sailing ranks.
ATLAS MILLER
Age: 15
Class: International Laser Class Association (ILCA)
A member of the Kingston Beach Sailing Club, Atlas was Tasmanian Youth Sailor of the Year in 2024. He has shown his ability to sail any class of boat successfully by switching from Open Skiffs, 29ers and now to excelling in the ILCA Class.
EDDIE REID
Age: 19
Class: ILCA/SB20s
Accomplished sailor Eddie Reid is a talented International Cadet sailor, who can sail on a range of other boats. Eddie was part of the Australian team that won the SB20 world championship in The Netherlands in 2023, a team that included fellow-Tasmanians Will Sargent as skipper and Eirini Marios in the crew.
They created history as the first Australians to win the world crown, and the $35,000 Waterford crystal trophy. Olympians Tom Slingsby, Ian Brown, Nathan Outteridge and Glenn Bourke have all come close, but it took the young guns from Tasmania to finally bring the title home.
Eddie recently finished second at the 2024 SB20 World Championship sailing with Sargent. He was then part of an exceptional SB20 team that won the Australian championship a few weeks ago. Eddie is a great tactician and determined sailor.
JADE DICKINSON and INDIA WILLIAMS
Age: 14
Class: Mirrors
Mirror sailors and teammates Jade Dickinson and India Williams proved that they are the best in their class as 2025 Australian Junior Champions and finishing ninth in a hotly-contested Open fleet.
ADELAIDE O’DONOGHUE and FREDI O’DONOGHUE
Class: ILCA (Lasers)
Sisters Adelaide (18) and Fredi (16) have been sailing since they were very young. They both sail in the ILCA class and continually show their skills and determination to succeed. The ILCA is a physically demanding boat and requires strength and a high level of skill to sail well.
Both Fredie and Adelaide will compete in the Women’s Keelboat Regatta in Hobart next week to show how competitive they can be.
SAM HOOPER
Age: 16
Class: International Cadet/WASZP
Sam Hooper and Hugo Allison made International Cadet history by winning the Australian title for the fourth time in 2020. Sam Hooper won the national championship again in South Australia last summer, and has also represented the country on numerous occasions. He recently moved into the foiling WASZP class looking for a faster and more dynamic boat to sail.
OLIVE HOOPER
Age: 14
Class: International Cadet
Coaches say Olive Hooper, younger sister to Sam, displays the mindset to win and never give up. Having finished third in the recent national championship in the International Cadet, Olive is now training in preparation for the world titles that will be held later in the year in the Czech Republic. Sailing with her in the boat will be club mate Samantha Archer.
HUGO ALLISON
Age: 20
Class: WASZP
Hugo is now an accomplished foiling WASZP sailor, having competed in the National Championships in Hobart finishing fourth in a highly competitive fleet. He has been one of the few selected as part of the Sail GP Inspire program in Sydney for the past three years and continues to show his form and need for speed.
TOM FADER
Age: 17
Class: ILCA (Lasers)
Tom is an inspired and motivated young sailor and an accomplished ILCA 6 sailor. At the recent Crown Series Tom won his class and will be involved in numerous regattas in the next 12 months.
ARTHUR ADAMS
Age: 13
Class: Sabot
Arthur is a rising star in the class and is showing how well he is able to sail a Sabot by finishing as the top Tassie sailor and fifth in the Sabot national championship. It will be interesting to see what class Tom decides to progress into as he moves into larger boats.
ABBEY LODGE and WILL LODGE
Class: ILCA (Lasers)
Siblings Abbey (12) and Will (16) have grown up living and breathing sailing. Having been competitive Optimist sailors, they are both now promising competitors in the larger ILCA class and moving their way up the fleet.
RUBY PILKINGTON and GEORGE PILKINGTON
Class: ILCA/Optimist
Optimist young guns Ruby (14) and George (12) have an extensive family history of successful sailors. Both of are just as determined and driven to do well. At the recent Crown Series Regatta on the Derwent, George finished with a perfect score taking out the Optimist division. Ruby has just moved into the larger ILCA.
CASPER BIRCH and CHARLIE BIRCH
Class: 29ers/49erFX
Brothers Casper (18) and Charlie (16), having been successful sailors in the super-quick 29er class. They have recently upgraded to the faster and more demanding 49erFX that will challenge and continue to push their boundaries. Coaches say watch out for their 2025 campaign.
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