The meeting of the World Sailing Council has concluded in Barcelona, Spain as part of the 2016 Annual Conference.
Para World Sailing Committee Chairman Betsy Alison presented the Committee’s decision on the equipment that the 2.4 Norlin OD, Hansa 303 and Weta Trimaran will be adopted for para sailing events as the sport aims for reinstatement into the Paralympic Games in 2024.
Following two evaluation events and a process of gathering input from MNAs, sailors and other interested parties, the Committee’s Equipment Evaluation Working Group had recommended that the Weta and Hansa 303 be introduced in place of the SKUD 18 and Sonar, and that the Norlin 2.4 OD be retained.
Equipment has been selected to help achieve a number of objectives identified by the International Paralympic Committee and prioritised by the Equipment Evaluation Working Group. The Weta and Hansa 303 were seen as being widely available at a significantly reduced cost and providing easier logistics.
World Sailing will now enter contractual discussions with the classes and builders. The Para World Sailing Championships in 2017 and other selected events will be used to evaluate the event format for each of the classes.
It was noted that 2017 and 2018 are critical years in sailing’s bid to be reinstated within the 2024 Paralympic Sports Program. World Sailing must be able to demonstrate significant growth in the number of nations participating in its Para World Sailing Championships during this period.
The sport’s proposal for the 2024 Paralympic Sailing Competition is scheduled to be submitted by mid-2018, with the composition of the sports program decided by the International Paralympic Committee in December 2018.
For a summary of the World Sailing Council Meeting – click here
For information about the Para World Sailing Strategy for 2017-2020 – click here