Racing gets underway in The Hague for Sailing World Championships

What, where and when?

The Sailing World Championships is a multi-class regatta that takes place once an Olympic cycle. In 2018 the Danish city of Aarhus held the regatta, and now it’s the turn of Dutch city of The Hague to play host. Racing starts on Friday 11 August and finishes on Sunday 20 August.

Who

Unlike the Paris 2024 test event that saw only one entry per class per nation, the Sailing World Championships is open to multiple entries in each class – and that means huge fleet sizes. More than 1,400 of the world’s best sailors will descend on The Hague for the regatta, including over 60 British Sailing Team and British Sailing Squad athletes. 

The lowdown

The second of two major regattas this summer, the Sailing World Championships promises to be massive. It’s the first time that nations can qualify for a spot on the start line at next year’s Olympics. And just to up the ante even more, many nations are still in the process of choosing their Paris 2024 team, so performance on the waters of The Hague is absolutely critical.

Para sailing

Para sailing also makes a welcome addition to the Sailing World Championships in The Hague, with Britain fielding three sailors, Emily Wright, Adam Billany and Rory McKinna. This is the first edition of the quadrennial combined Worlds to include the Para Sailing events.

McKinna will compete in the Hansa 303 event, with Wright and Billany teaming up in the RS Venture Connect class.

Anything else?

In the mixed 470 keep an eye out for the return of two-time Olympian Chris Grube, who’s coming out of retirement to sail with Vita Heathcote. Grube called time on his impressive Olympic career after finishing fifth at Tokyo 2020 alongside Luke Patience.  

How do I follow the regatta?

The Sailing World Championships features results and the full entry list, and the event will be livestreamed for the four medal race days (17-20 August).

If you want to track the progress of the Brits the best place to do so is the British Sailing Team social media channels. Each day we will keep you posted on results, and feature the best photos the event has to offer.