Australia to host Para World Sailing Championships

The 2015 Para World Sailing Championships is set to welcome 140 sailors from 29 nations in Melbourne, Australia from November 24 to December 3.

Racing out of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown, a small suburb of Melbourne, competitors will be gunning for the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Sailing Competition with the stakes as high as they could possibly be.

The 2.4mR will be the biggest fleet in Melbourne with 45 entries whilst the Two-Person Keelboat, the SKUD18, and the Three Person Keelboat, the Sonar, have 19 entries each. In total, 140 sailors and 70 coaches will be in Melbourne with eyes focused on taking gold and a place on the Rio 2016 startline.

Organising Committee chair Michael McLean said, “By my reckoning we have one more country to enter and that will give us 30 countries, a fabulous result and commitment from all countries and sailors and coaches to such a prestigious event in the sailing calendar. It is after all the second and final country qualifier for the Rio Paralympics.”

In total, 35 athletes will book their spot at Rio 2016 in Melbourne. Seven spots in the 2.4mR, five in the SKUD18 and six in the Sonar will be up for grabs. Click here for the qualification system.

“You would really struggle to find a more professional group of sailors and coaches dedicated to representing their countries at the highest level,” McLean continued. “This will be some of the best sailing you are ever able to witness.”

London 2012 Olympic gold medallists Helena Lucas (GBR) in the 2.4mR and Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) in the SKUD18 will be amongst the stellar cast on show in Melbourne.

Other London 2012 medallists making the trip include 2.4mR silver medallist Heiko Kroger (GER) and SKUD18 bronze medallists Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR). Silver and bronze medallists in the Sonar, Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka and Robert Prem (GER) and Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen (NOR) will also be on the start line.

Away from the elite competitors at the front of the fleet the fight will be on for the remaining Rio 2016 spots after the 2014 Championship saw the first 50% of spots snapped up.

At the end of August 2015, ten sailors from six nations attended the first Paralympic Development Program (PDP) clinic in Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain. Thanks to the PDP sailors from Czech Republic, Estonia, Hong Kong and Portugal are expected to compete in Melbourne, aiming for one of the lucrative Rio 2016 spots.

Ahead of the Melbourne Para Worlds, a second PDP will be taking place where sailors will benefit from on-water expertise, sailing in the Paralympic one-person keelboat, the 2.4mR, as well as daily on-shore briefings.

Registration, measurement and classification will run for three days in Melbourne from 24 November. The Opening Ceremony will take place on 27 November with six days of racing commencing on Saturday 28 November. A single race on Thursday 3 December will bring the regatta to a close followed by the prize giving.

Event Website – Entry list – Facebook

About the 2015 Para World Sailing Championships
The Para World Sailing Championships take place out of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia from 24 November to 3 December 2015.

As the second and final qualification regatta for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Sailing Competition, seven spots in the 2.4mR, five in the SKUD18 and six in the Sonar will be decided in Melbourne.