Landsailing World Championship opens at remote, starkly beautiful Nevada site

Smith Creek Playa, Nevada (July 12, 2014) – The FISLY-NALSA 14th Landsailing World Championship was officially opened today under bright sunshine and cloud-studded skies. After a morning of yacht preparation and test sailing in light air, sailors representing 15 countries and 4 continents gathered for the traditional participant-nation flag-raising ceremony in the late afternoon.

North American Land Sailing Association (NALSA) President Dennis Bassano (USA) and recently-elected International Federation of Sand & Land Yachts (FISLY) President Alan Watson (Ireland) presided over the ceremony. Bassano, in an emotional recollection of their contributions, dedicated the regatta to two giants of the sport who passed away in the past year: Eric Engelbrecht (Belgium), the FISLY President for the past 25 years and Bertrand Lambert (France), multiple European and World Champion and former land sailing world speed record holder.

The actual sailing competition is scheduled to start July 13, when 2-1/2 days of racing devoted exclusively to the exciting 5.6 Mini Yacht class gets underway. This relatively new development class, which features rolling starts and unlimited sail area should provide an exciting show for spectators.

Following the Mini Yacht racing, competition for all other classes is scheduled to commence on Tuesday afternoon, 15 July and conclude on Saturday, 19 July.

Event website: http://www.nalsa.org/Worlds2014Splash.html

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Photo: Carels Photography, Belgium
Source: Russ Foster, NALSA Media Coordinator