Ten World Championships will be on the line when the 51 selected Australian athletes, of which 25 are NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holders, hit the water at the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Netherlands next month.

This will be the first-time nations will have the chance to secure quota spots for Paris, and the first combined Sailing World Championships since 2018. Australia will have athletes competing in all ten Olympic classes at the event, which will be take place in The Hague, The Netherlands from 11-20 August.

“Our team is incredibly excited and well prepared for the Worlds,” said Australian Sailing Team High Performance Director Iain Brambell.

“We’ve had some great results throughout the 2023 season, which has the team in an excellent position for success in The Hague. We have built our preparation around the opportunity to win World Titles and ensure Australia achieves 2024 Olympic qualification across as many classes as possible at this initial Olympic qualifier.”

Among the 25 NSWIS scholarship holders are Grae Morris (Men’s iQFOil), Finn Alexander (ICLA 7), Evie Saunders and Sylvie Stannage (ICLA 6), Jim Colley & Shaun Conor, Tom Burton & Max Paul, Thomas Cunich & Miles Davey (49er), Annie Wilmot, Olivia Price & Evie Haseldine, Natasha Bryant & Madeleine McLeay, Mina Ferguson & Dervla Duggan (49erFX), Lisa Darmanin & Darren Bundock, Jake Liddell & Lucy Copeland, Archie Gargett & Sarah Hoffman, Brin Liddell & Rhiannan Brown (Nacra 17).

The team will again be led by Matt Wearn OAM, with the Tokyo Olympic champion returning to form with a win at the recent Olympic Test Event.

“I am really looking forward to the Worlds, it has been a number of years since I have had the chance to compete at the combined event so it’s exciting to have that opportunity again,” said Wearn.

“With the Hague being on the North Sea it offers some different conditions to what we normally race in in Europe with the tidal flow being the biggest challenge. If you get the tide moving in a different direction to the wind it can make for some extremely tough racing.”

The following Paris 2024 country quota spots will be available at the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships:

  • Men’s One Person Dinghy (ILCA 7) – 16
  • Women’s One Person Dinghy (ILCA 6) – 16
  • Men’s Skiff (49er) – 10
  • Women’s Skiff (49erFX) – 10
  • Men’s Kite (Formula Kite) – 8
  • Women’s Kite (Formula Kite) – 8
  • Men’s Windsurfing (iQFOiL) – 11
  • Women’s Windsurfing (iQFOiL) – 11
  • Mixed Two Person Dinghy (470) – 8
  • Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17) – 9

With multiple entries per nation allowed at the World Championships, it is the top unique finishing nations that will earn the quota spots. For example, if two Australians finish in the top ten of the Men’s Skiff it will earn Australia one quota spot and the 11th-placed team will be offered the quota spot (provided another entry from their nation had not already earned the spot by finishing in the top ten). You can read more about the Olympic qualification system here. The host country France receives automatic entry in every event.

For the first time four Para Sailing World Championships will be held alongside their Olympic counterparts, with the Hansa 303 (Men and Women), 2.4 Meter and RS Venture Connect set to compete in The Hague. Australia will have Alison Weatherly (Women’s Hansa 303) and Peter Coleman (Men’s Hansa 303) competing.

The 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships are expecting more than 900 boats and 1,400 participants from over 90 nations.

“We are delighted with how the team has prepared for this event,” concluded Brambell. “But we are nowhere close to being content. We are here to compete and earn Medal Races and Series, and will be putting everything we have into ensuring we leave with more medals and confirmed Olympic quotas.”

The regatta will include tracking from SAP, with more information (including the Notice of Race) available on the event website.

Article and image courtesy of Sailing Australia

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