At the end of October this year, the World Championship of the new Olympic discipline Mixed Offshore will be sailed on L30 boats off Malta as part of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. 20 nations are eligible to compete.
The new DSV coach for this discipline, two-time Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup participant Tim Kröger, had called on interested teams to apply for the German starting place; the response has been greater than expected. Ten teams, one male and one female sailor, have registered, according to Kröger "from all areas, from Olympic to ocean sailing". However, it is still too early to name specific names.
To ensure equal opportunities, a kind of national competition will be held on the Baltic Sea from 23 to 24 April. The DSV has chartered ten J/70s from the Bundesliga for this purpose. The ten aspiring duos will have to sail non-stop from Kiel for around 30 hours.
As the J/70s are only authorised for CE category "C", waters close to the coast, the course will also be set close to the coast. The boats will be equipped with additional safety equipment such as stretch ropes and position lights, and the fleet will also be accompanied by a safety boat during this race. The wind limit is 6 Beaufort.
The J/70 is significantly smaller than the L30 used in the World Championships and, apart from a small slip cabin, offers no comfort whatsoever, for example for resting during the 30-hour long haul. However, Kröger does not find this decisive, as there were various practical reasons that led to the choice of the J/70.
"In principle, the boat has no relevance. For me, it is important to be able to assess the qualities and expertise of the crews on such a challenging route - and whether they can and want to persevere."
The crews can choose the necessary aids, such as navigation equipment and weather routing, themselves, but external help is prohibited except from freely accessible sources.
Whoever wins the race will qualify for the World Championship from a German perspective. However, as 22 nations have so far registered for the 20 starting places, there could still be a preliminary European elimination. This will be decided in the coming weeks.
It is also unclear whether the boat of the World Championship, the L30, will be the boat for the 2024 Olympic Games. The World Sailing Federation has just published the timetable and the list of candidates for the selection of the new Olympic offshore one-design class. The criteria that the boat must meet will be defined by 31 December 2020 at the latest and it will also be determined by this date which of the boat candidates meet these criteria. The final selection of the Olympic boat will then take place by 31 December 2023.
Twelve manufacturers have so far submitted an application for the Mixed Offshore discipline, including Dehler with the Dehler 30 one design. Other candidates are the Figaro 3, three J-Boats (88, 99 and 105), Sunfast 3300 and also a new Mini, the Vector 6.5.
You can find the complete list of candidates with their application documents here.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
