World Yacht Racing Forum heads to Gothenburg

by Bernard Schopfer on 13 May 2013 The World Yacht Racing Forum (WYRF) will return to Gothenburg, Sweden on the 10-11 December 2013. This year’s event includes a number of new, exciting features and a world class speaker line-up.

The World Yacht Racing Forum will address the major challenges in the yacht racing world and will gather the key players from yacht racing event organisers, teams, sponsors, agencies and sailors to help shape the future of the yacht racing industry. Once again the event will be co-located with the Yacht Racing Design and Technology Symposium which will take place concurrently with the WYRF on December 10th.

Knut Frostad, CEO Volvo Ocean Race said,' The Volvo Ocean Race is delighted to partner with the WYRF 2013. The event is a must for anyone that genuinely cares about the yacht racing industry. We look forward to seeing you in Gothenburg this December'

Orhan Gorbon CEO The Bosphorus Cup commented; ' We are really pleased to be returning as Official Race Partners again in 2013. We really enjoyed and benefitted from our participation in 2012 and look forward to meeting again with so many passionate and influential people across the industry.'

Marc Blees, MD Gaastra Pro Gear,' Gaastra is happy to once again confirm our successful partnership with the WYRF. We have been Official Partners of the event for five years now and it provides us with an excellent platform and opportunity to meet the key players within yacht racing.

The WYRF is the leading yacht racing industry conference, and is the only occasion in the year where the leaders of the industry gather, away from the wáter, to discuss their mutual challenges and opportunities. 2012’s event saw over 250 attendees including key note speakers such as Ben Ainslie and Juan Kouyoumdjian and participating companies including; Volvo, SCA, Stena, Volvo Ocean Race, OC Sport, Vendee Globe, Alpari World Match Racing Tour, America’s Cup Event Authority, Mirabaud, Virtual Regatta, Gaastra, Capitalize, Farr Design, Oracle Racing, Atlant Ocean Racing, Multiplast and more.

'We are delighted to be returning to Gothenburg and to have Brandspot, Volvo Ocean Race and The Bosphorus Cup supporting the WYRF this year. Gothenburg is hosting some fantastic sailing events over the next few months and years and it is wonderful to be holding the Forum in a city with such passion for yacht racing.' Commented James Gradwell,Event Director for the World Yacht Racing Forum. 'With such a busy year for the industry, including the America’s Cup taking place in September, it will be a fantastic two days of learning and networking and we look forward to working closely with our partners.'

New features are being added to the event for 2013 which will centre around the theme of 'Learning From Other Sports'.

The conference will include high level, engaging and motivating speakers presenting within the programme, as well as interactive sessions and new networking formats to ensure participants get the best value across the two days. Speakers include: Peter Bayer, current CEO of Open Sports Management and former CEO Innsbruck Youth Olympic Games; Knut Frostad, CEO Volvo Ocean Race; Mark Turner, Executive Chairman OC Sport; Guillaume Verdier, Designer; Guillaume Henry, Director General Vendee Globe and many more. This year the YRDTS will run over one day giving delegates the opportunity to join the WYRF on day two and discuss the challenges that face the sport as a whole from design to race.