Three weeks to go to Yacht Racing Forum 2018 in Lorient, France

Three weeks to go to Yacht Racing Forum 2018 © Yvan Zedda

The Yacht Racing Forum 2018 will take place in Lorient, France, on October 22-23. This will be a memorable event in one of the sports' strongholds. It will reassemble the sports' key personalities and the most influential brands from all over the world to debate the sport's hottest issues and make business.

1 October 2018 - The eleventh edition of the Yacht Racing Forum will take place in Lorient, France, on October 22-23. A business oriented conference, the Forum will reassemble the sport's leading brands and personalities for two days of conferences, debates, networking and business.

The Yacht Racing Forum is the unique opportunity for everyone involved in yacht racing to reach out to the international sailing community in two days and one location. More than 300 delegates including twenty-five media representatives from all over the world have already confirmed their participation and the list is growing by the day.

The conference will be split into four modules: The Future of Sailing, Regatta and Teams Management, Marketing and Media, and Top of the Sport. Running parallel to the Business and Marketing Conference on Monday, the Design and Technology Symposium will focus on the latest technologies, connected boats, the impact of the IMOCA, Classe Ultime or the America's Cup on mainstream sailing, and present the latest innovations including computer assisted foils, the integration of composite materials in the design process and much more.

The list of speakers includes some of todays' greatest actors from within the yacht racing industry, including Gianguido Girotti, Ferran Muniesa, Phil Lotz, Adrienne Cahalan, Michel Kermarec, Gary Jobson, Marcus Hutchinson, Mateusz Kuscnierewicz, Alistair Dickson, Giuseppe De Mattia, Olivier de Roffignac, Marc Bouet, Bruno Dubois, Andy Claughton and many more.

A strong French delegation will obviously be present, including amongst others Gautier Sergent, Michel Desjoyeaux, Armel Le Cleac'h, Vincent Lauriot Prévost, Michel Kermarec, Nicolas Hénard, Alain Gautier, Christophe Baudry, Thierry Verneuil...

In short, the Yacht Racing Forum 2018 will be a who's who of international yacht racing (click here to see the entire speakers' list).

Social functions aimed at sharing a good time and favoring networking and business are planned. The event will start with a welcome drink provided by Akzo Nobel on Sunday afternoon (5:00 PM onwards). The gala reception, provided on Monday evening by North Sails and Bretagne Sailing Valley, promises to be fun and entertaining. Last but not least, all participants are invited by GAC Pindar to a post-event drinks and tapas reception on Tuesday evening.

A record 18 brands have secured exhibition space. The prestigious Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image and Mirabaud Sailing Video Awards prize givings will also take place during the Forum. For the second year in a row, the Yacht Racing Forum app, developed by Eventory, will give everyone the opportunity to organise meetings with fellow participants, talk to each other and make business, answer surveys etc.

For more information and registration please visit yachtracingforum.com