2013 Sail For Gold Regatta at the WPNSA preview

by Matt Carter on 8 May 2013 2013 Sail For Gold Regatta gets underway at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy with the ‘early entry discount’ fee closing midnight Friday 10th May.

With over 110 athletes from across 11 nations already registered to compete on the waters used for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, RYA and WPNSA event organisers are urging interested sailors to take advantage of the ‘early entry discount’ by submitting their entries before midnight on Friday 10th May via the event website at www.sailforgold.co.uk.

Today sees the first races taking place in the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup, the new European series for Olympic and Paralympic Classes in Riva del Garda in Italy. Organised by the European Sailing Federation (EUROSAF), this series is designed to complement the ISAF Sailing World Cup series, which finished recently in Hyères, France.

The Sail For Gold Regatta will welcome Olympic and Paralympic classes in what will be the third instalment of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup. Sailors already entered include London 2012 Paralympic gold medallist Helena Lucas in the 2.4mR class while Lijia Xu who made history by becoming China's and Asia's first Laser Radial sailing gold medalist will be back in action on the same waters where she also earned the title of Women’s World Sailor of the Year.

The event is also teaming up with SailRacer and Danish company SportsXstream to provide an enhanced online experience for sailors, coaches and fans alike. Combining their respective experiences in online media and live streaming for sailing events, SailRacer and SportsXstream will be joining forces to deliver live video from the racecourses and GPS tracking solutions across the Sail for Gold fleets.

Sail for Gold Event Director Tim Hall commented: 'We are very much looking forward to welcoming sailors and their coaches to Weymouth and Portland in just a few weeks’ time. We expect some familiar faces returning to our venue as well as some sailors new to the Olympic circuit and everyone can expect World Class racing on the waters of Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour.

'We are reviewing feedback from recent formats at the ISAF Sailing World Cup events and also the first EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup event and can ensure sailors that we will be offering the best Race Management available to offer great competition. We urge sailors to get their entries in as soon as possible.'

Entries received before the 10th May 2013 will qualify for the early entry fee. All other on-line entries must be received no later than 31st May 2013.

To download the Notice of Race or for more information on the 2013 Sail for Gold Regatta please visit the event website www.sailforgold.co.uk