The ILCA 7 competition at the 2023 Sailing World Championships was the men's dinghy event and was held in The Hague, the Netherlands, 13–20 August 2023. The entries were limited to 140 boats. The competitors participated in an opening series that was planned to 10 races, followed by a medal race. The medal race was planned for 20 August.
The competition served as a qualifying event for the 2024 Olympic sailing competition with 16 out of 43 national quota being distributed at the event.
Summary.
Jean-Baptiste Bernaz of France was the reigning world champion, having won the 2022 ILCA 7 World Championship in Puerto Vallarta, while Matthew Wearn of Australia had won the Paris 2024 Test Event the month before. In the Sailing World Cup, Michael Beckett of Great Britain had won the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, Elliot Hanson of Great Britain had won the Semaine Olympique Française, Duko Bos of the Netherlands had won the Allianz Regatta, and Alexandre Boite of France had won the Kiel Week.
On the first day, Tonči Stipanović of Croatia started the racing with two race wins, with Becket recording one race win and one third in the other fleet. After four days of competition, Beckett had raised to the top as overnight leader. By the end of the opening series, Wearn was in top having a 20-point lead to George Gaultrey of New Zealand and further one to Beckett. Results from the medal race saw Wearn win the gold medal, while Beckett of Great Britain won the silver medal, his first ILCA 7 World Championship medal.
With the final results, national quotas were awarded Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, Italy, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Germany, Peru, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Croatia, Ireland and Portugal.