No more event clashes

Kiel Week prepares for ISAF president, Goran Petersson, to open the event this year

In 2008, sailing will get its own world tour – the ISAF Sailing World Cup. This was agreed by the ISAF at their Mid-year Meeting in early May in Paris. The ISAF Sailing World Cup is a Grand Prix-style scoring system that comprises the Sail Melbourne (Australia), the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (USA), the Princess Sofia Trophy (Palma/Spain), the Sémaine Olympique Hyères (France), the Holland Regatta (Medemblik/Netherlands) and the Kieler Woche.

“The World Sailing Association recognizes the immense contribution the six event organizers have so far made for the national and international sailing sport. And there will be no more event collisions like we have this year with the Worlds in Cascais so soon after Kiel Week,” says Kieler Woche race director Jobst Richter, who represented the Kiel Yacht Club at the Paris meeting together with Dierk Thomsen, Dirk Ramhorst and Sven Christensen.

The goal is to establish a new ISAF series that will satisfy both media and marketing needs. “This World Cup series will markedly increase the attractiveness of sailing,” Dierk Thomsen, Vice President of Kiel Yacht Club summarizes the meaning of this outstanding chance for the sailing sport.

At the 125th Kieler Woche 2007 (16 to 24 June), the changes to be in effect for the start of the World Cup series in 2008 will certainly be a topic of hot discussions in the talks with ISAF President Göran Petersson (Sweden), who will be visiting Kiel from Friday to Monday.

Petersson, will strike the ship’s bell at the opening ceremony of Kiel Week 2007. The President of ISAF will attend Kiel Week for the second time after his election in November 2004.

“We shall take the opportunity of the attendance of ISAF President Petersson at Kiel Week to further discuss the newly invented ISAF Worlds 2007 and 2011 in all Olympic Classes, as well as this year’s closeness of dates between Kiel Week and the ISAF Worlds in Cascais Portugal starting just a few days later” commented Jobst Richter, chairman of the Kiel Week race organisation, and added: “In future we hope for a better reconciliation of the dates with other top ISAF events; and Kiel Week is definitely known as one of the best regatta series.”