Sailors gather from across the globe for inaugural World Sailing Inclusion Championships - photo © World Sailing
Dear Recipient Name
In January 2015, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC}) made the misguided decision to drop sailing from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Sports Program. The IPC then doubled-down on this decision in September 2018, underbussing all sailors who were hoping to compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympics; the organization then pulled this same foolish move again in January 2025, ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics.
To say that the international sailing community was disappointed by these decisions would be akin to saying that the AC75 foiling monohulls used in the America's Cup are kind of quick.
Good efforts have been made along the way to try and change the IPC's "thinking", however the recent inaugural World Sailing Inclusion Championships (November 30 to December 8), which unfurled on the waters off of Mussanah, Oman, was the biggest gathering of paralympic sailors since the Rio 2016 Paralympics concluded almost a decade ago.
With luck, the IPC was paying very close attention.
The World Sailing Inclusion Championships, which was organized by Oman Sail, featured racing in four classes. The Para Inclusive Two Person Keelboat event was contested aboard RS Venture Connects, the Inclusive One Person Keelboat event was decided using Hansa 303s, the Intellectual Impairment Class was raced aboard ILCA 6s, and the results of the Visually Impaired Class were determined using fully crewed FarEast 28Rs.
The event reportedly enjoyed fine sailing conditions throughout the event, which saw 127 athletes from 28 different nations competing across the four classes.
Piotr Cichocki and Olga Gornas-Grudzien, flying the Polish flag, took top honors in the Para Inclusive Two Person Keelboat event. Pau Toni Homar and Ramon Gutierrez, flying the Spanish flag, finished in second place, while Vasilis Christoforou and Thodoris Alexas, flying the Greek flag, took third.
North American interests were represented in this class by Americans Michael Lung and Jane Pimentel, who finished in 12th place, and Timothy Brown and Cindy Walker, who finished in 21st place.
In the Inclusive One Person Keelboat class, Great Britain's Rory McKinna took top honors, beating out Portugal's João Pinto, who finished in second place, and Japan's Takumi Niwa.
Impressively, just two points separated McKinna's first-place results from Niwa's third-place standings.
Americans Jim Thweatt and Dylan Young, who finished in 19th and 26th places (respectively), represented North America in this class.
Leaderboard results were also tight in the Intellectual Impairment event, with Great Britain's Murray Macdonald finishing just one point ahead of the UAE's Marwan Suloom to take first place. Hong Kong's Man Hong Leung finished in third place.
Finally, in the Visually Impaired Class, the Great Britain 2 team, which was led by skipper Lucy Hodges, outsailed the Spanish-flagged team, which was led by skipper Dani Pitch, who finished in second place. A second British-flagged team, led by skipper Karl Haines, took third place.
"Sailors came from every corner of the globe, arriving with determination, joy, and the fierce competitive spirit that defines Para Inclusive Sailing," said Hannah Stodel, Para Sailing Manager at World Sailing, at the event's closing ceremony (as reported in an official event report). "This week we saw courage, tactical brilliance, grit, heartbreak, triumph, and some of the purest sailing I've ever witnessed. Medals tell one story-but showing up tells the real one. And every single one of you showed up. For yourselves. For your teams.For Para Inclusive Sailing. For the future.
"This championship marks a turning point," continued Stodel. "A bold, unapologetic statement that Para Inclusive Sailing belongs on the world stage-not hidden, not sidelined, but central to our sport's future. We are building something monumental together."
Sail-World has many candles lit that the momentum from this great event translates into sailing being reinstated for the Brisbane 2032 Paralympics Games.
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor
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