Para World Sailing Championships
The Para World Sailing Championships is the definitive guide to the best-of-the-best in Para World Sailing with clear objectives to showcase and develop Paralympic sailing, create sporting heroes and engage sports fans, and excite sponsors and broadcasters.
From 16-22 September 2018, the US Sailing Center of Sheboygan in Sheboygan, USA will host the 2018 edition of the Para World Sailing Championships.
To include athletes with high level disability, help grow participating nations and spectator / media appeal the following events, equipment and format will be adopted in 2018:
- Single Person Keelboat (Technical) - Open Gender - 2.4m OD - fleet racing with a Medal Race
- Single Person Keelboat (Non-Technical) - Male - Hansa 303 - Short course fleet racing, supplied boat with a Medal Race
- Single Person Keelboat (Non-Technical) - Female - Hansa 303 - Short course fleet racing, supplied boat with a Medal Race
- Two Person Keelboat - Open Gender - RS Venture Connect - Short course fleet racing, supplied boat with late stage knockouts. The winner of the final race will win the event
Kiel, Germany hosted the most recent edition of the Para Worlds and more than 80 sailors from 39 nations competed across the Open 2.4m OD, Men's Hansa 303 and Women's Hansa 303.
Headline media figures:
- 278 online news articles with a potential reach of 139 million
- 9 videos produced amassing 166,000 views across four channels
- 220,000 Twitter impressions
- Instagram – 145,000 impressions, reaching 101,000 users with 6,500 engagements
- Facebook reach of 400,000 with 50,000 engagements
Particularly on reinstatement:
2018 is the most important year for the reinstatement process, since the decision regarding new sports at the 2024 Para Games will be taken from November to January and announced in January. Of all points requested by IPC the one regarding country participation is really important, so showing participation is hugely important. Furthermore, the Para World Sailing event will be the first event with the new RS boats (some of these will use the servo technology).
About Fleet Racing:
Fleet racing is the most common form of sailboat racing and is simply a competition where sailboats race each other over an established course. The course can be around or between buoys, it can use geographical features such as islands as boundaries and it can be either a short course on an inland body of water or set offshore for long distances.
The rules for fleet racing set by World Sailing can be supplemented by race-specific rules set by the organizers of a particular race. Rule infractions are resolved either by a boat voluntarily taking a penalty during the race or by protest lodged and heard after the race.