Dinghy World Cup underway

by Jana Pines on 6 Jul 2012 Racing at the 2012 Dinghy World Cup gets underway today in Portorož, Slovenia. 102 sailors from eleven nations will compete in two divisions, classic fleet with 67 wooden boats and 35 sailors helming modern hulls, made of fiberglass.

Yesterday the George Cockshott Trophy race was held, registrations were finalized and followed by the Opening Ceremony. It was the Mayor of Piran, Peter Bossman, who declared the 2012 Dinghy World Cup formally opened. 'There have been already a number of world championships and high profile international regattas in the bay of Piran, but this one is truly a special one, since it marks club’s 30th anniversary,' said Bossman before leaving the stage to young local sailors, who paraded with competitor’s nation flags.

Marjan Bauer, president of Yachting Club Portorož is also delighted with participants racing at the 2012 Dinghy World Cup, 'Members and management of Yachting Club Portorož are extremely honored to mark the club’s 30th jubilee by hosting the Dinghy World Cup. Participants suggested our candidacy for this event and we managed to win it,' which came as no surprise since Yachting Club Portorož is far renowned as an excellent organizer and gulf of Piran as an exceptual venue. Among club’s most notorious events, mention should be made of Formula One’s sailing equivalent, the RC 44 class regattas, attended by nine of the top 15 skippers in the world in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

For dinghies racing gets underway today, with the warning signal for the first race scheduled at 1100 hours. Both fleets, classic and modern, are supposed to sail eight races with one discard.

Event website

The 2012 Dinghy World Cup is being hosted at Marina Portorož and organized with support of Piran Municipality.