World Sailing Offshore World Championship to launch in 2019

The inaugural World Sailing Offshore World Championship will be held in 2019, with this newly conceived event seeking to be a powerful platform to accelerate the interest and growth of offshore one-design sailing amongst the sailing community.

Announced at World Sailing’s 2017 Annual Conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the format for the World Sailing Offshore World Championship will have double-handed mixed competition between nations, featuring 20 identical monohull boats.

“World Sailing’s Offshore World Championship objective is to create a pinnacle endurance competition to be pursued by the best sailors from all nations of the world,” said Kim Andersen, World Sailing President.

“A mixture of 30 mile and 90 mile coastal races combined with a three day / two-night offshore race will ensure the Championship tests the competitors drives awareness of offshore sailing and accommodates commercial partners and spectators.”

An important goal of the event is to engage with new countries by providing turnkey equipment ready to use at the event venue as well as a training academy.

World Sailing is seeking an Event Management Partner (EMP) to manage the commercial and operational delivery of the World Championship from 2019 through 2024.

The EMP will be responsible for procuring the event Host, managing key aspects of the event, promoting and marketing the event, creating commercial value, and through this, generating revenues from both the Host Venue directly and through commercial partnerships and activities.

For EMP information to bid: click here.

All bids must be received by World Sailing by 17:00 UTC on May 18, 2018. Further questions will be sent to bidders from May 21-25 and there may be a requirement for presentations of bids at World Sailing’s Executive Office in London, Great Britain.

A final decision by World Sailing’s Board of Directors will be made on June 4, 2018.

Alongside an EMP, World Sailing is also requesting equipment proposals for the Offshore World Championship, which entails delivering 20 identical offshore monohull boats, 8 to 12 meters in hull length and capable of performing in all wind and sea state conditions between 4 and 40 knots of wind.

World Sailing is looking for an Equipment Supplier that will be able to provide a full fleet of ready to race double-handed boats available to charter on the dates and venue to be designated at least ten months in advance by World Sailing.

In order to provide World Sailing’s Member National Authorities with access to a small fleet of boats for training, the Equipment Supplier will also be expected to work with World Sailing and the EMP to facilitate the establishment of a European based training academy with five boats minimum available the charter.

For the Request for Proposal of Equipment for the 2019-24 World Sailing Offshore World Championship document: click here.

Proposal submissions must be received by 23:59 UTC on May 31, 2018. An Evaluation Period will run from June 1 to July 13, 2018 with a final decision to be announced on August 8, 2018.

For further information, please contact Carlos De Beltran Gutierrez, Technical and Offshore Director on carlos.debeltran@sailing.org.

Source: World Sailing