The World Championships just keep on coming

by World Sailing on 18 May 2016 While the Olympic torch is being passed from person to person on its trip to Rio 2016, the Olympic and Paralympic classes are doing the same as the World Championships torch passes along on its tour around the world to Brazil.

Last week was the finish of the Finn Worlds in Gaeta, Italy. The torch was passed to the Laser Standard currently in Mexico having their Worlds. They then hand over to the Paralympic classes as they begin their Worlds in Medemblik, Netherlands next week.

It was business as usual for Briton's Giles Scott who had sewn up the Finn title with a day to spare in a light wind regatta, and it is looking like his compatriot Nick Thompson is going to make it two for two as he heads into the final stages on top of the pile. There is still plenty of racing to go and a lot of chasing Lasers that will have a different idea of who will have a target on their back going in to the Games.

From Olympic to Paralympic, the Para World Sailing Championships starts next week as part of the Delta Lloyd regatta in the Netherlands' showpiece event. This will be the final big showdown for the three classes before the summer Paralympic Games, so putting a marker down in a high quality regatta will do wonders for the confidence ahead of Rio.

This week it was also announced that Bart's Bash will form part of the Paralympic Games with a focus on Disabled sailing worldwide for both the charity endeavours and World Sailing. The partnership will shine a light on Disabled sailing and money made will help in the grassroots level of the sport for the Paralympic classes and will prove invaluable in the pursuit of getting sailing reinstated to the Paralympic Games of 2024.