Techno 293 OD World Championships - A record fleet

by Benoit Tréguilly on 30 Jul 2010 The 2010 Techno 293 OD World Championships will be taking place at Martigues in the Rhone delta, south of France, not far from Marseille, from the 24th to 31st July.

And there's already one record been broken before a race has been run, that of the number of participants, with more than 360 young riders entered from all over the world ! Compared to the 2009 edition, in Weymouth, Anglend, that's an increase of over 30%, with nearly 30 countries represented including Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan...

And such a huge number of entrants requires a logistic of equally massive proportions, as has been put in place by the host club, the Cercle de la Voile de Martigues, with a competition site that has rapidly taken on the appearance of a Techno 293OD village, what with all the tents and camping cars, and competitors grouping around their proudly displayed national flags !

Saturday 24th was a day given over entirely to getting competitors onto the site, giving way quickly to two days of registration and formalities, which in turn will be followed on Tuesday by a day of training at the spot. The strong Mistral wind that had been blowing lately should be replaced by something more moderate and better to suited to good racing.

And, on the water and off it, the organisation will have to be tip top. To help minimise safety issues on the water, there will be two separate competition series for boys at under 15 and under 17 levels. First races could be as early as tomorrow morning !

For more information on the Techno 293 OD class : www.techno293.org

A monster Mistral wind has been blowing at the spot at l'Etang de Berre near Martigues in the Rhone delta since Saturday, the spot where the 2010 Techno 293 OD World Championships are currently being held, the kind of wind that made for a spectacular training series for all the competitors at the spot on Monday afternoon.

Proof of that captured on film in this video, which shows a great panoramic view of the site itself, captures the mood of the event perfectly, includes footage of the opening ceremony, and above all, shows the technicality of the conditions out on the water.