29er World Championships 2022 at El Balís, Spain - Preview
by International 29er Class 31 Jul 14:39 PDT
31 July - 6 August, 2022
29er World Championships 2022 at El Balís, Spain © Laura Carrau
The 29er World Championships are to be held from July 31st to August 6 at the Club Nàutic El Balís, and is set to have an unprecedented number of participants - 245 boats from 26 countries.
Spain will have 21 crews and among them the team formed by the brothers Mateo and Simón Codoñer, who will defend their World Championship title won at their home club, RCN Valencia in 2021. In the women's category, Paula and Isabel Laiseca from Gran Canaria also know what it's like to climb on the podium of a World Championship event, after winning the Bronze medal in Valencia 2021.
Among the international fleet, the French team Hugo Revil and Karl Devaux, who took the Silver in the U17 category, will also be in Catalan waters alongside competitors Germans Carl Krause and Max Georgi, who were U17 Bronze in the last World Championship event.
The president of the Club Nàutic El Balís, Francisco Javier Ripoll, explains that "we are very satisfied to once again host a World Championships in our club. The whole team has been working with great enthusiasm for a year and a half on this project, so that it is not only a great sporting event but also a great social and economic one for the territory". He adds that "the link between the town of Sant Andreu de Llavaneres and an event of these dimensions helps to focus and place Llavaneres on the world map".
Joan Mollerus, President of the International 29er Class, is very excited about this championship: "We are thrilled to see 245 teams on the race course for the largest 29er World Championship in history. After two years of pandemic-related travel restrictions, we are very excited to welcome teams from Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong back to World Championship racing! We are grateful to our hosts at El Balis, who are providing excellent organisation, superb racing, and warm hospitality".
On July 29th and 30th the official measurement and registration was carried out and today, Sunday the 31st, registration will close and a practice race will take place with the event official Opening Ceremony held at 7pm.
From August 1st, the first races will be held, with the fleet divided into six groups. With three days of qualifying races - from Monday to Wednesday - and three days of finals racing, the event will close on Saturday, August 6th and the new World Champions will be crowned. In total, 18 races are scheduled to be held (9 for the Qualifying Phase and 9 for the Final Phase).