2015 Snipe World Championship - 83 teams 18 nations

by Michele Tognozzi on 12 Sep 2015 Great sailing comes to the ancient Roman harbor of Talamone in Maremma with one of the most important competitions in the world. The Snipe World Championship, hosted by the Circolo della Vela Talamone in Tuscany, will take place from the 19th to the 26th of September 2015.

After making it through a very demanding selection process in their respective countries, 83 teams from 18 nations have entered the regatta. The Snipe World Championship, which takes place every two years, is preceded by the Snipe Junior World Championship with the participation of 36 other crews from 11 nations.

Some of the greatest names in the history of sailing are recorded on the Snipe World’s honor roll; Dane Paul Elvstrom, four-time Olympic gold medalist, Brazilian Torben Grael, five-time Olympic medalist and well-known tactician of Luna Rossa, Argentinean Santiago Lange, two-time Olympic medalist, just to name a few. Winning a Snipe World Championship is an indisputable sign of sailing mastery, as the two person dinghy designed in 1931 by William Crosby can be considered one of the most tactical and technical racing dinghy among the non-Olympic classes.

Front-runners for the 2015 Snipe World Champion title include Augie Diaz (USA), two-time world champion, Luis Soubie (Argentina), Alexandre Tinoco (Brazil), Raul de Valenzuela and Jordi Triay (Spain). Among the outsiders, Italians Solerio-Lambertenghi, Poggi-Vanni and Argentinians Agustin Zabalua, who will compete with a boat that has been prepared at Club Velico Castiglione della Pescaia, and Miguel Costa, former Luna Rossa design team member.

Italy is represented by 16 crews in the Snipe World Championship and by 10 crews in the Snipe Junior World Championship. So far, Mario Capio is the only Italian to have won a World Championship in 1955 in Santander, Spain. The Snipe World Championship returns to Italy for the second time, after it was hosted by the city of Rimini in 1995.

The international competition to be awarded the event was very stiff. The city of Talamone was selected and won thanks to the exceptional weather and sailing conditions between the southern tip of the Natural Park of Maremma and the Argentario, an area known as Snipe Bay. Another determining factor was undoubtedly the breathtaking beauty of the territory, which countless Italian and foreign sailors have fallen in love with when coming to Maremma to race.

The Circolo della Vela Talamone chaired by Admiral Sergio Biraghi put in considerable effort to win the nomination. Vice-president Alessandro Testa is the main organizer of the event. The hospitality village has been set up on the main square of Talamone that faces the sea. Three ramps have been prepared for the launching, as have Snipe measurement and storage areas. The rich program of events includes gala dinners, conferences and concerts that are also open to citizenship.