Sonar World Championship at Noroton Yacht Club
by Lee Morrison on 29 Sep 2009
Sonar fleet SW
Racing for the 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship is set to begin next Thursday, October 1st.
Noroton Yacht Club, home of Sonar Fleet 1, is hosting the event. The Sonar is a 23’ keel boat designed by Rowayton, Connecticut resident Bruce Kirby. It is known as an easy to sail, highly competitive, one-design boat appealing to club racing fleets, team and match racing championships, and para-olympic sailors.
Fifty-five boats from 7 countries are currently registered for this year’s championships. Racing for the World Championship trophy will take place in the waters of Long Island Sound about 2 miles South of Darien, Connecticut. The venue is rotated between fleets and held ever other year. In August 2011 the Sonar Worlds will be run by the Royal Northern Clyde YC in Scotland.
The International Sonar Class was founded in 1980 based on a principal of tightly controlled class rules ensuring that boats remain competitive over a long lifetime. In 2000 the Sonar class obtained Recognized status from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and in the same year was selected as the Paralympic Keelboat. Its status as Paralympic Keelboat will continue at least through the 2012 London Olympics. Worldwide, over 800 Sonars have been built.
Each day, Thursday, October 1st through Sunday, October 4th, competing boats will leave Noroton Harbor at around 10AM for up to three daily races. Each race is expected to take about two hours. Social events for the competitors, race committee, and jury is scheduled in the evenings after sailing ends.
Website: http://www.sonarworlds.org
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