World Sailing World Championship: Split World Championship, two summits for the 2027 sailing super year

Originally, the World Sailing World Championships for Olympic and para-inclusive classes was intended to be a joint event for everyone. While the class associations regularly organise their world title competitions once a year, the World Sailing World Championship, which is held every four years like the Olympic Games, was intended to bring all Olympic and para-inclusive sailors together in one place after the turn of the millennium.

However, since its official première in Cadiz in 2003, it has evolved over the course of subsequent World Cup summits in Cascais (2007), Perth (2011), Santander (2014), Aarhus (2018) and The Hague (2023) It has proven to be an increasingly mammoth task to find organisers with suitable venues who are able and willing to host an event of such quality and quantity.

World Sailing World Championship: making a virtue out of necessity

The dilemma resulted in the decision to split the World Sailing World Championships for the first time next year and organise them at different times in two venues on different continents. World Sailing President Quanhai Li is convinced of the new concept: "This is the first time that we are using a split format for the World Sailing Championships, which will help to promote the sport and allow sailors to compete in the conditions best suited to their discipline."

The 2027 World Championships will be a milestone for our sport." Quanhai Li

The World Sailing Federation is convinced that the double World Championship "promises to be one of the most exciting years in the history of the sport". The division of the classes is easy to follow and has now been finalised with the exact dates: Part one of the World Sailing World Championships puts the Olympic soloists centre stage. The single-handed dinghy sailors as well as the iQFOiL windsurfers, Formula kiters and athletes in Paralympic categories will already be challenged from 15 to 23 January 2027 in Fortaleza, Brazil.

From 22 July to 1 August, the sailing-loving Polish city of Gdynia will host part 2 of the World Sailing Championships. The double-handed competitions in the men's and women's skiff classes (49er/49erFX), in the 470 mixed and in the mixed multihulls (Nacra 17) as well as other para-inclusive series will sail into the spotlight in the area on the Polish Baltic coast. The World Championship medals will be contested there as part of the Gdynia Sailing Days.

The following, for example, are probably best remembered Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort their class world championship in Gdynia last year. In the Polish waters, they won World Championship silver behind the reigning Spanish world champions Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona - not bad conditions for the World Sailing World Championship in summer 2027. And a good opportunity for a rematch with Xammar/Cardona on course LA28 too...

Suitable areas selected for single and double-handed sailors

The Polish Sailing Association will organise and host the major event in cooperation with the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Poland, the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the city of Gdynia and numerous partners. The two halves of the World Sailing Championships on two different continents will give the next sailing super year 2027 additional pre-Olympic weight.

Next year, The Ocean Race will start in January with Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia and the new "Malizia 4" in Alicante, Spain, with the race around the world scheduled to finish in the Saudi Arabian resort of Amaal in June 2027. In July, the challenger round and the 38th Louis Vuitton America's Cup will be held in Naples, Italy. In addition, SailGP highlights will take place at least once a month around the world. World Sailing expects that "the events will offer fans an unprecedented year of elite sailing on the global stage".

Together with The Ocean Race and the America's Cup in the same year, 2027 will be an extraordinary celebration for athletes, fans and communities around the world." World Sailing

The strategists at the World Sailing Federation are also convinced that the two World Championship venues are the perfect choice for the respective Olympic and para-inclusive disciplines. A press statement said: "With Fortaleza and Gdynia hosting the event, the athletes will compete in exceptional sailing conditions while demonstrating the global reach and inclusivity of sailing."

World Sailing World Championship: prelude to the double event in Brazil in early 2027

Quanhai Li said of World Championship Part 1 in Fortaleza: "We are delighted to have chosen Fortaleza to host the World Sailing Championships and firmly believe that the venue will continue to build on its sailing tradition. The facilities in Fortaleza are exceptional and the conditions will be ideal for the one-person competitions. We are sure that sailors and visitors alike will have a wonderful experience in Brazil."

The event is supported by the Brazilian Federal Government through the Ministry of Sport and by the Municipality of Fortaleza through the Municipal Secretariat of Sport and Leisure and the Municipal Secretariat of Tourism and is organised by the Brazilian Sailing Federation (CBVela) in collaboration with the Sailing and Motorboat Federation of the State of Ceará (FVMEC). More precise schedules and further details on the two-part World Sailing Championship have yet to be finalised.

Sailors from 81 nations took part in the last World Sailing Championship in The Hague, where Sebastian Kördel won windsurfing silver at the time. A review here: